The Debate Over Child Care: 1969-1990 offers a new perspective on the pervading problem of providing child care services in the United States. The author traces the contemporary debate over the sponsorship of child care services and compares this to the past debate over the sponsorship of kindergartens during the Progressive Era. Klein compares the function of child care across societal sectors, and points out that turf fighting and imbedded ideological differences have prohibited the development of a proactive social policy for providing needed child care services. She analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of five different sponsors: the public schools, the church, private enterprise, non-profit organizations, and corporations. Past and present federal legislation is discussed in relation to the divisive issue of sponsorship.

Based on more than 100 interviews with government officials and extensive archival research, this book looks at the politics behind child care legislation. Identifying key times at which major child care bills were introduced, Cohen examines the politics surrounding these events and subsequent political negotiations. Cohen also looks at the impact President Clinton had on child care policymaking and how child care legislation became part of other issues, including welfare reform and tax policy revisions.