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A tiny hand clasping the finger of a large hand-- it is a familiar image. An image of infancy that evokes the baby's vulnerability and trust, and the adult's gentleness and responsibility. An image of caring. Behind the image is a story of family and societal choices. Do the baby's mother and father hold jobs? What were their options for returning to work or staying with their newborn? Perhaps the large hand belongs not to a parent but to a teacher in a child care center, a neighbor who takes children into her home, or the baby's grandmother. Who else is nearby in the care setting? Are other large hands reaching out to hold the baby, or are other small hands reaching up for the adult?
This journal issue is about the care of the nation's youngest children, those who have not yet turned three. As used here, the term "care" encompasses a rainbow of different care settings and caring individuals-parents and grandparents, nannies and neighbors, family child care providers and child care centers. The journal issue compares our understanding of the caregiving that babies need with the capacity of today's parents to ensure that those needs are met day after day.
Why focus just on children under age three? The decision is controversial. Because development is continuous, categories based on age can be artificial and misleading.1 Nevertheless, the "under-threes" have been singled out in recent years. Sparked by the Carnegie Corporation's Starting Points report in 1994(2) and spurred by newly popularized research on brain development3, media attention to infants and toddlers surged during the 1990s.4 Amidst the excitement, some exaggerated claims were made about the uniqueness of the first years of life, prompting the National Academy of Sciences to caution that the focus on the period from birth to age three "begins too late and ends too early."5 We agree. No claim is made here that development stops or even pauses at a child's third birthday party. Instead, we distinguish this age group because the responsibility for children who are still so dependent and vulnerable poses unique demands on caregivers and care settings. A baby depends utterly on his or her caregiver to make the vast world safe, manageable, and welcoming. To share the...