A Social History of Ideas Pertaining to Childcare in France and in the United States

Abstract

Childcare institutions have developed within social, cultural, and political con- texts. Their historical trajectories are linked with nation-specific societal and political discourses. Thus, prevailing ideas about childcare and child-rearing are underpinned by theories and beliefs about parenting, the role of women in raising children, and the duties and functions of families and the nation state. Although the developments of institutional childcare and ideas pertaining thereto in France and the United States show remarkable parallels, the two countries differ in respect to their childcare approaches. Today, different rates of enrollment in childcare facilities suggest that historically institutional childcare might have been embedded more deeply in the French than in the American society. Currently, 43 percent of children less than three years old are enrolled in France whereas 31 percent are enrolled in the United States. 1 Moreover, while parents in France cover 27 percent of the costs of institutional childcare for children up to three years, parents in the United States pay 60 percent of these costs on average. 2 In view of this discrepancy in the use and funding of institutional childcare, it is important to study both the societal conditions within which childcare facilities have developed and the evolution of theoreti- cal concepts underlying childcare in both countries. This study outlines relationships between societal contexts and major his- torical developments in two corresponding daycare facilities, the French creche and the American day nursery, summarizing paramount processes in the evolu- tion of these facilities and accompanying conceptual ideas that substantiated their existence. By highlighting discursive paradigms about childcare since the inception of the first formal daycare facilities, the study seeks to contribute to the understanding of current approaches in and societal attitudes toward institu- tional childcare in France and in the United States. The analysis draws on a comparative-historical approach. 3 It reviews primary sources of founders of childcare institutions, educational theorists, and administrative authorities as well as secondary sources from historical and social