An Abbreviated History of Child Care
| 1850's |
Day nurseries for poor children so families could work. |
| 1920's |
Nursery schools for middle-class families to educate pre-schoolers. |
| 1933-43 |
WPA nursery schools to reduce unemployment (first federal funding of child care). |
| WWII |
Lanham Act creates child care centers for children of women working in war industries. |
| 1954 |
Income tax deduction for child care instituted. |
| 1960's |
War on Poverty creates Head Start, Model Cities and the 4 C's (Community Coordinated Child Care). |
| 1974 |
Title XX funds child care for low-income families. |
| 1976 |
Child care deduction changed to tax credit. |
| 1988-90's |
Federal government funds child care to make welfare reform work. |
| 1990 |
Child Care and Development Block Grant and IVA At-Risk program for children of working poor families. |
| 1998 |
Child care bills continue to be introduced into Congress as solutions to the child care crisis. |