A surprisingly wide variety of child day-care systems exist throughout the world, and each system has its own particular purposes, benefits, and drawbacks. In some countries, child day care is viewed as an integral part of the public education process; in others it serves primarily to provide working parents a safe haven for their children during work hours. The issue of health and health care in the day-care setting is also viewed in a number of ways, from the Chinese view that health care should be built into the daily routine of child day care to the American approach of placing that responsibility primarily on the parent. This paper explores the day-care settings found in four countries.Both child care and health services are determined by a number of different influences in the cultural, social, and historical background of a given country. The economic situation and overall societal values combine to produce a child day-care system that at least attempts to respond to the needs of the majority of that society. Furthermore, the economic trends of the last two decades have had an even greater impact on day care than could have been imagined at the outset. Even in countries where the extended family is still a strong force in the care and rearing of children, the need for additional assistance has increased. A look at the systems in China, Israel, France, and Canada will identify a range of approaches to dealing with this issue.Child day care is largely a public undertaking in most countries, often with a smaller, private system operating independently under government regulations.
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