Day care or child care is care of a child during the
day by a person other than the child’s parents or legal guardians,
typically someone outside the child’s immediate family. The service is
known as child care in the United Kingdom and Australia and day care in
North America. Child care or day care is provided in nurseries or
crèches or by child minders caring for children in their own homes.

Babysitting
is the occasional temporary care of a child during the absence of his
or her parents. Child care or day care is ongoing care during specific
periods, such as the parents’ time at work. Child care can also take on
a more formal structure, with education, child development, discipline
and even preschool falling into the fold of services.

Some child
minders care for children from several families at the same time,
either in their own home or in a specialized child care facility. Some
employers provide nursery provision for their employees at or near the
place of employment.

Day care appeared in France about 1840, and
the Société des Crèches was recognized by the French government in
1869. Originating in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th century,
day cares were established in the United States by private charities in
the 1850s, the first being the New York Day Nursery in 1854.

From
individual caretakers to regulated institutions the day care industry
is a continuum from personal parental care to large, regulated
institutions. The vast majority of childcare is still performed by the
parents, in house nanny or through informal arrangements with
relatives, neighbors or friends. For example, in Canada, among two
parent families with at least one working parent, 62% of parents handle
the childcare themselves, 32% have other in-home care (nannies,
relatives, neighbors or friends) and only 6.5% use a formal day care
center.

Home day cares are operated by a single individual out of
their home. This is often a stay-at-home parent who seeks supplemental
income while caring for their own child. Local legislation may regulate
the number and ages of children allowed before the home is considered
an official day care centre and subject to more stringent safety
regulations. Some home day cares operate illegally with respect to tax
legislation where the care provider does not report fees as income and
the parent does not receive a receipt to qualify for childcare tax
deductions. As home day cares do not pay rent, they are typically less
expensive than day care centers. Home day care providers may still be
certified like more organized daycares.

Another factor favoring
large corporate day cares is the existence of childcare facilities in
the workplace. Large corporations will not handle this employee
benefits directly themselves and will seek out large corporate
providers to manage their corporate daycares. Smaller, for-profit day
cares operate out of a single location.

In Canada, the workforce
is predominantly female (95%) and low paid, averaging only 60% of
average workforce wage. Many employees are at local minimum wage and
are typically paid by the hour rather than salaried. In the United
States, “child care worker” is the fifth most female-dominated
occupation (95.5% female in 1999).

The UK has a wide range of
childcare offered; including child minders and can also include
pre-school education at school. It is regulated by OFSTED in Wales),
which operates the application and inspection process for the sector.
The sector is primarily funded by the parents; however the Nursery
Education Grant (pre-school funding) can be used at some day nurseries,
playgroups and schools.