The purpose of this correlational study, which took place in a Central Florida school district, was to investigate the relationship between the quality of the early childhood education (ECE) programs and students' kindergarten readiness scores. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, which states that a child's environment, culture, and language are related to academic and social development, was the theoretical framework for this study. Many ECE centers have been rated using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS). Additionally, some children in those centers have been rated for kindergarten readiness using the Florida Kindergarten Readiness Screener (FLKRS) developed by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE). The sample included 55 ECE centers that had an ECERS rating with students who had FLKRS scores. This study addressed whether FLKRS scores were positively correlated with ECERS ratings. Data were analyzed using the Pearson product moment correlation. Results indicated a positive and significant correlation between ECERS ratings and FLKRS scores. A white paper was prepared to raise awareness regarding the availability of quality ECE centers to young learners. Implications for social change include an increased number of quality ECE programs in local neighborhoods as well as increased awareness of the importance of an environmental rating scale to monitor program quality.

A pesquisa tem como objeto o trabalho e as práticas de cuidado de crianças pequenas, a partir de diferentes processos e sujeitos que realizam essa atividade, gratuitamente nos domicílios ou como profissão. A tese se nutre da interdisciplinariedade própria à teoria feminista e, partindo dos estudos sociológicos sobre trabalho doméstico e de cuidado, constrói uma perspectiva de análise que integra contribuições da economia feminista. Apoia-se nas noções de divisão sexual do trabalho, imbricação das relações sociais de gênero, raça e classe, e na perspectiva da sustentabilidade da vida como instrumentos teóricos que orientam a análise. As diversas modalidades do trabalho de cuidar de crianças se manifestam em uma pluralidade de arranjos, interdependentes, mas também conflitantes e em permanente transformação. Em uma cidade profundamente desigual, como é São Paulo, Estado, mercados, família e comunidade integram a discussão a partir desta diversidade de arranjos, das conexões e dinâmicas entre os sujeitos, os trabalhos e as práticas sociais que sustentam o cuidado. Instituído na Constituição Federal de 1988, o direito à creche é uma reivindicação histórica que marcou a organização popular do feminismo brasileiro. De lá para cá, as creches foram integradas à política de educação, e verificou-se expansão significativa, mas aquém da demanda. Viu-se emergir uma camada profissionalizada de mulheres, com formação no ensino superior, que assumem o cuidado de crianças pequenas como professoras nas creches e pré-escolas. Estas são relativamente mais valorizadas e formalizadas que as que cuidam de crianças na vizinhança ou como trabalhadoras domésticas (babás). As mudanças relativas à composição do cuidado não transformam os princípios da separação, hierarquização e invisibilização nexos da divisão social, sexual e racial do trabalho , mas produzem deslocamentos: aproximam e distanciam mulheres e homens, e mulheres entre si. A análise confirma a indissociabilidade entre o cuidado direto e tudo o que precisa ser feito para garantir as condições de vida alimentação, limpeza , revelando permanências na dinâmica que separa e hierarquiza tais trabalhos, invisibilizando os trabalhos com menor valorização social e os sujeitos responsabilizados por eles. As dimensões do afeto, da dependência/autonomia, dos ritmos, atividades e da responsabilização pelo cuidar são aspectos com manifestações singulares no cuidar de crianças pequenas quando comparadas ao cuidado de idosos, que predomina nas análises contemporâneas sobre o trabalho de cuidado. A pesquisa evidencia que o ajuste entre as lógicas em conflito do capital e da sustentabilidade de vida se dá tanto no trabalho não remunerado (mulheres nas famílias), como no trabalho remunerado de diferentes responsáveis pelo cuidado que absorvem os impactos desse conflito em seus corpos e tempos. / This paper aims to investigate care practices and work with infant and toddler children, looking into several processes and individuals who carry out this activity, whether for free at households or as a paid occupation. The dissertation is established on the specific interdisciplinarity of feminist theory and, coming from sociological studies on care and domestic work, builds a perspective of analysis that integrates contributions from feminist economics. In this sense, the notions of sexual division of labor; the intersectionality of social relations based on gender, race, and class; and the sustainability of life constitute the theoretical framework of this research. The many different modalities of childcare is expressed in a myriad of arrangements that are interdependent, but also conflicting and continuously changing. In a deeply unequal city such as São Paulo, Brazil, the State, markets, the family, and the community integrate the conversation not as stagnant actors, but as part of this diversity of arrangements, the connections and dynamics between individuals, the works, and social practices that support care. Established in Brazils 1988 Constitution, the right to childcare has been historically on the agenda of peoples organization in Brazilian feminism. Since then, childcare centers have been integrated to education policies, and while there has been a significant increase in the number of daycare facilities, they are still not enough to satisfy the demand. A class of technically trained women with a higher education background take on the task of caring for infants and toddlers as teachers in childcare centers and preschools. They are relatively more appreciated and more formally employed than child caregivers who work in their own neighborhood or as domestic workers (nannies). The changes in care-related compositions do not change the principles of separation, hierarchization, and invisibilization as the nexus of social, sexual, and racial division of labor , but rather produce displacements: they bring women and men, and women with each other, closer together or drive them apart. The investigation demonstrates how care and everything that involves providing living conditions food, cleaning are intrinsically indissociable, showing what remains in the dynamics that separate and hierarchize those works, invisibilizing socially underappreciated works and the individuals who are responsible for them. The dimensions of affection, dependence/autonomy, paces, activities, and the assigning of responsibility for care are aspects that manifest in unique ways in childcare when compared to senior care, which prevails in contemporary investigations into care work. This research demonstrates that the adjustment between conflicting logics that of capital and that of the sustainability of life happens both in unpaid work (households) and paid labor of different caregivers who absorb the impacts of this conflicts between their bodies and times.

States are not required to provide subsidies for childcare and transportation, but at the time of this writing all provided some supplements to TANF participants who were working, looking for work, or attending school. However, there has been little assessment of the effectiveness of these programs. Using data from a longitudinal study on Families First participants in the state of Tennessee, this exploratory study addresses the questions of whether transportation and childcare supplements contribute to the ability of TANF participants to move off welfare and support their families adequately through their own efforts, and whether outcomes from these services differ by geographic location. The survey sample consisted of 3,569 respondents who were currently receiving or who had recently received TANF services through Tennessee's Families First program, beginning with the initial survey in 2001. Regardless of any assistance provided for childcare and transportation, which have been addressed in the literature as significant barriers to employment and thus the well-being of TANF participants, most of the survey participants remain among the poorest families in the country. While transportation and childcare supports may alleviate some of the barriers that TANF participants must overcome, this research finds that they do not in themselves improve the likelihood that poor families will be abot to move out of poverty. However, there are some indicators that they do help in terms of having employment, which is the first step toward achieving financial well-being.

This thesis consists of four empirical studies on women and men in European labour markets. Study I examines effects of the sex of the immediate supervisor on the time men and women spend in initial on-the-job training (OJT) in Sweden. The results show that men receive longer initial OJT than women do, but men’s time in training is independent of the supervisor’s sex. For women in the private sector, the chances of receiving long initial OJT are higher if the immediate supervisor is a man. Study II analyses effects of labour market institutions on the quality of part-time work by comparing the skills and autonomy of female part-time jobs in Britain and Sweden. The results show that female part-time employees in Sweden hold positions of higher skill and have more autonomy compared to their equivalents in Britain. Both British and Swedish part-time employees face relative disadvantages when compared to female full-time workers. Study III examines associations between maternal employment policies and wage penalties for mothers by skill in 10 European countries. The results indicate that, net of variation in female labour force participation, extensive publicly funded childcare is associated with a modest decrease in the motherhood wage penalty, regardless of skill. By contrast, paid maternity leave is weakly associated with a larger motherhood wage gap in less skilled jobs only. Study IV examines the extent to which women’s opportunities to attain positions of high workplace authority are related to maternal employment policies, such as paid parental leave and part-time work. Based on data from 25 European countries, the results show that a high proportion of women working long part-time hours is associated with a wider gender gap in the attainment of high authority positions, to the disadvantage of women. However, paid parental leave appears to be unrelated to the gender authority gap. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2: In press. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.

This thesis examines the implementation of a philanthropically project called Norrbottens arbetsstugor which were launched during the famine of 1903. The project initially aimed to hinder starvation among children to poor families and was arranged in a similar way as boarding-out schools. Children to poor families were offered this temporary solution and during their stay they received board and lodging as well as schooling and work practice. However, the project continues until 1954 although the threat of famine is hindered fairly promptly which indicates that new policies were introduced. Therefore, the inquiry focuses on how actors on different levels in the implementation structure adapt and transform the philanthropically policy to suit their respective needs and goals. The study is divided into two phases, a so called initial phase and an expansion phase. The implementation is investigated via archive material from the philanthropically organisation itself, Stiftelsen Norrbottens Läns arbetsstugor, as well as from local governments (kommunala skolråd) and representatives of the Swedish government (folkskoleinspektörer). The study shows how policies of childcare becomes blurry or difficult to fulfil due to insufficient means, lack of control or because of absence of recognized tools to evaluate the activity. Commonly, implementation studies sought to show how well or misused the policy has been obeyed after its introduction. This study shows rather how a policy can work fruitfully even though, or thanks to, its intentions are reformulated by different actors. This of course, awakes questions of moral characters. The study also highlights the importance to investigate, in this case a philanthropically case, not only as such, but as a project that is ongoing on several levels. This gives us the opportunity to see what, for example, the conception of ‘good childcare’ means and how it is defined depending on the level studied. To put it short: when studied in different levels, we may unveil the different meanings of a concept. Keywords: Norrbotten, early 20th century, childcare, boarding-school, philanthropy, assimilation, implementation.

As a point of departure, this thesis is motivated by the big changes which have taken place in most Western European countries since the 1970s, with an increase in female labour market participation and, to some extent, men’s increased share of the domestic work. There is also a debate as to whether France, having a fairly extensive family support,should be categorised as closer to the Scandinavian countries or together with countries with more restrictive family policy such as Italy and Germany, and thus belonging to the conservative regime cluster as defined by Gösta Esping-Andersen. The major topic of this thesis concerns what expectations parents have on childcare and how they experience the combination of care of children and participation in paid work. Two studies, based on quantitative macro-data, analyse and compare differences in primarily women’s employment in relation to family policy measures. The studies concern in addition to France and Sweden, also Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom. The results indicate that the extensive family support system brings France closer to the Scandinavian countries. However, results based on 80 interviews made with 40 French and 40 Swedish families in the three following studies indicate that this may not be the case concerning factors like attitudes and values about the care of children and the reconciliation of work and family. Results indicate that values expressed in the French families point to a strong connection with values significant for countries in the conservative regime cluster. Major findings are that in the reconciliation of work and family, Swedes experience role stress more than French people, and in particular Swedish fathers. In France, on the other hand, mothers strongly express a feeling of dissatisfaction with their partner’s lack of participation in the household work. Regarding the attitudes to the paid parental leave (allocation parentale d’éducation- APE), French families’ arguments reflect that the policy does not promote fathers’ use of paid parental leave, and French mothers more than Swedish mothers refer to the weaker labour market situation as a reason for their use of the leave. Concerning expectations on childcare, French families more than Swedish families stress the importance of ‘upbringing,’ ‘learning’ and ‘socialisation,’ whereas Swedish families emphasise ‘pedagogy’ and that the staff recognises the individual child.

This thesis analyzes the right to reconcile work and family responsibilities which is recognized as crucial in women&amp / #8223 / s participation in the labor market. When women can not fully enjoy their right to work due to the burden of unequal gender division of labor, they become more vulnerable to poverty and male violence which impede them from developing their basic human capabilities. States should acknowledge that this is a human rights problem which is deriving from women&amp / #8223 / s overburden as primary caregivers. In order to overcome this problem and transform the patriarchal structure of the market and the family / state intervention in the private sphere is required. Two alternative reconciliation models are examined. The first is the equality driven model that encompasses parental leave and childcare facilities, which necessitate positive intervention of the state and more likely to trigger structural change. The other is the flexibility or market driven model which is based on part-time work and homeworking strategies. They target women&amp / #8223 / s participation in the labor market without necessarily leading to any change in the gender divisionof labor. The effectiveness of these strategies is analyzed within a feminist jurisprudence method. While the focus is on the international framework, including the EU Member States, the specific case of Turkey is also considered. Given Turkey&amp / #8223 / s socio-economic particularities, childcare largely depends on kinship relations and social policies regulating women&amp / #8223 / s labor market participation are market driven. The data shows that women in Turkey do not equally enjoy their economic and social rights. Therefore, by examining the international framework for right to reconcile work and family responsibilities, it is hoped that a case can be made to call on Turkey to abide by its international obligations to grant this right.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

鑑於現今社會對於員工工作與家庭責任平衡議題的關注，無論是社會政策或企業雇主，都越來越重視員工的家庭生活。然而，企業中所提供的友善育兒政策究竟能否確實地被需要的人使用，卻仰賴主管對於員工使用行為的支持態度。因此，本研究希望了解主管對友善育兒政策的態度以及影響主管對友善育兒政策支持態度的因素。 　　本研究以立意抽樣方式，於三所國立大學之EMBA發放問卷，另以滾雪球方式蒐集網路問卷，共獲得227份主管的有效樣本，研究結果為： 1、在主管個人變項中，僅年齡、婚姻狀況、是否撫養子女與總支持態度或各措施呈現顯著關係。35歲以下者僅對於育嬰假支持態度較高、已婚及未婚者較離婚者更支持公司托兒制度、無撫養子女者的總支持態度也高於有撫養子女者；性別則與支持態度未呈現顯著差異。 2、企業環境之變項中，包含企業規模、產業類型、是否成立工會、是否實施性騷擾防治政策、員工屬性以及企業中友善家庭文化的氛圍皆與總支持態度或各措施呈現顯著關係。任職於企業規模250人以上、金融業、實施性騷擾教育訓練、專業人員比例高或具備友善家庭文化企業之主管，呈現較高的支持態度。 3、主管認知與經驗變項中，主管過去對於友善育兒政策的使用經驗、對於政策的功能認知以及主管的性別意識亦與總支持態度或各措施呈現正相關。 　　研究最後針對政策、企業及未來研究提出建議，包含加強輔導中小企業實施友善育兒政策、了解企業未能實施友善育兒政策原因據以對症下藥、加強查察未落實之企業並加以嚴懲、邀請有使用經驗者於輔導講座中分享心得、營造使用者觀點的友善企業環境、對管理階層的家庭關懷再教育、設計創意的工作模式等。 / In accordance with the rising social awareness of work-family balance issue, governmental policies and employers are more concerned with employees’ family life. However, whether the childcare-friendly policy in the firm can be applicable for the employees in need or not depends largely on the attitude of their managers in the workplace. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the managers’ attitude to childcare-friendly policy and the related factors influencing their attitude. A total of 227 valid samples from managers were collected through 2 means: (1) Purposive sampling in 3 EMBA classes in national universities and (2) Snowball sampling online. The findings are as follows: 1. Among all the related factors of the managers, only their age, marital status, and whether they have children on their own are significantly correlated with their supportive attitude towards the childcare friendly policy. Managers aging less than 35 years old only support on parental leave. Managers who are married or not married support on-site childcare more than the divorced ones. As for managers who don’t have children support friendly childcare policies more than those do. There is a not significant correlation between managers’ gender and their supportive attitude. 2. As for corporate environment factors, significant correlation to supportive attitude on child-care friendly policy exists with the scale of firm, the industrial classification of firm, union in existence, preventing policies of sexual harassment in place, the attribute of employee, and family-friendly culture. Managers who work in firms (1) with more than 250 employees, (2) positioned in finance industry, (3) implanting sexual harassment education (4) with high proportion of professionals and (5) family-friendly culture, have higher supportive attitude. 3. There are significant positive correlation between manager’s experience of utilizing childcare-friendly policies, their functional awareness of the policies, and their gender consciousness to their total supportive attitude among managers’ cognitive and experience measures. Lastly, there are some suggestions provided as follows. First, the government should enforce stronger supervision over small and medium enterprises on the execution of the policy, understand why some enterprises cannot implement the policy to devise solutions, inspect and pose proper punishment on enterprises not fully complying with the policy. Further, government should also invite experienced specialists to share their thoughts in sessions, create friendly corporate environment from user’s perspective, re-educate managers on family care, and design creative working modes and so on.

Since 1960s, preschools have been important parts both of Swedish welfare and of labour market policies. The preschool thus constitutes a very important site for rearing and educating young children. Reforms of the Swedish preschool in the 1990s concerning both accessibility and quality were introduced at a time when the economy of the municipalities dramatically deteriorated because of reductions in State subsidies. The strained economy of the State and the municipalities, has resulted, among other things, in a growing number of children in preschool groups and pressure to change organization and pedagogical content. These changes took place in a time of decentralization where the responsibility for organization of preschools was given to the municipalities. Changes in economy, organization and curriculum form the background for this study. The purpose of the study is to examine and understand how preschool working teams shape and realize the pedagogical practice and how working conditions affect this process. The approach of the study is interpretative, where the interpretative perspective is mainly represented by activity theory and theories of cultural reproduction. Three aspects of the actions are observed: the object of the actions, the instruments mediating the actions and the content of mediating actions. Bernstein’s concepts classification and framing are used as tools in analysing the empirical data. The interpretative, empirical study is based on qualitative data collected mainly by observations and interviews. Three preschools are chosen for the study. The preschools in the study are located in two municipalities in the north of Sweden, representing three different environments. All preschools receive children one to five years old. The personnel consist of preschool teachers and childminders working in teams. Eleven of them where interviewed. The study shows that daily routines both shape and restrict practices in preschools. The work is mainly focused on care giving, where the children are supposed to adapt to and subordinate themselves to the norms and to the existing routines. The children’s influence varies between organized activities, where they have little influence, and play time, where they can choose what to do. It also varies between the preschools, where the preschool with children from more affluent families have more freedom than children from the multicultural, lower-income environment do. The work is collectively oriented toward training adaptation, but also, to a certain extent, training for autonomy and responsibility taking. Organization of learning activities often takes the form of transmitting information. The informants regard themselves as caregivers with the main purpose to mediate security and create conditions for the children to develop socially. The changes in conditions emanating from political decisions have brought new working tasks to the preschools and have reduced the level of resources at the same time as the demands made are experienced as being harder. This creates frustration and tends to result in lower levels of ambition.