Still Think Welfare is Better Than Daycare?

[CoolRelax]

Or breastfeeding?  Of course we're all very special snowflakes and each person has their own unique situation, but generally it's better for your kids if you're not on welfare. 

I thought that was common sense, but apparently it's pretty popular to use welfare to make sure your child enjoys what (at least for the USA) are considered upper middle class standards: a mother who stays home, exclusively breasteeds til baby weans and nurtures the kids til they get to school. I'll skip how that makes us working moms feel, and just focus on the fact that it's actually not the best for your kid.

But that's my 2 cents.  What do you think?       

Here's a piece of an interesting article:

In work they conducted at the University of Kansas and chronicled in their book Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children, Betty Hart and Todd Risley recorded, for two-and-a-half years, a full hour of conversation every day between parents and children from 42 American families of differing social classes. Children with professional parents heard about 30 million words by the time they turned 3, compared with 20 million in working-class families and 10 million in welfare families. In addition, the ratio of parental encouragements to reprimands was about 6-to-1 among professional families, 2-to-1 among the working class and 1-to-2 in welfare homes. These different experiences closely tracked with the children’s later academic and intellectual performance, and other studies have since supported these findings.

Here's the full article. 

 

[brettsmomma]

 I agree with you. I try not to judge regardless but in my life I would work before accepting a government hand out.

[Mognificent]

Why do you assume just because someone stays at home is on welfare? Kind of an ignorant assumption and completely over generalized. Not all parents on welfare are unemployed either.

[MistyMoo]

Going on welfare to say home with the kids is the most ridiculous thing I've heard. That's just going to teach the kids that it's ok to take assistance because you don't want to work. I'd much rather be able to provide for my family than allow the government to provide for me.. A little but of assistance is fine, for example at one point I got my county to subsidize my day care, so that I could work. I dunno this is just *MY* feelings. Nobody else has to agree with me.

[Anonymous]

We're upper middle class so no comment. I don't agree with using any sort of welfare including medical or wic to stay home.

[MistyMoo]

I think she's referring to those who are on it specifically to stay home with the kids.

Quoting Mognificent:

Why do you assume just because someone stays at home is on welfare? Kind of an ignorant assumption and completely over generalized. Not all parents on welfare are unemployed either.

[firespurity]

I would make the educated guess that the difference is actually the education of the parents. Just an educated guess based off other factors that have been studied before.

[Anonymous]

Exactly my thoughts

Quoting firespurity:

I would make the educated guess that the difference is actually the education of the parents. Just an educated guess based off other factors that have been studied before.

[CoolRelax]

 

Quoting Mognificent:

Why do you assume just because someone stays at home is on welfare? Kind of an ignorant assumption and completely over generalized. Not all parents on welfare are unemployed either.

Where in the world did you get that?  Read the post again, the least you can do is argue with me about something I actually wrote. 

[Anonymous]

If you can't support your family while being a SAHM (or dad), then you need to be out working. Teach your children the value of working hard for what you have instead of relying on handouts!

[ElitestJen]

Staying off welfare is best.  But, everyone on Cafemom has a special needs kid that NEEDS a stay-at-home-parent sooooooo....yeah.