Spanish Zapatero promises universal child care for children under 3

[demoleft]

"The Socialist Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Zapatero, has promised universal education for children aged 0 to 3 years.
..
The announcement was made this week in an annual debate on the state of the nation, and is part of the Government’s response to national concern about falling birth rates in Spain.
...
The decision to massively increase child care for children under 3 in Spain follows recent agreement in the German coalition Government, prompted by the SPD, to make child care from the first year of a child’s life a legal right by 2013. A proposal for education from 0-7, put forward by the Italian Left Democrats, is also under consideration in the Italian Senate.

The right to child care is already established in Denmark, Sweden and Finland and the idea appears to be spreading, as socialists and social democrats all over Europe are working to improve pre-school child care facilities including in Portugal, the UK, Austria and the Netherlands."

PES (European Socialist Party) article from the website, http://www.pes.org/content/view/1144/1700078

The Unicef report on children well-being of last February and the practice of some Scandinavian countries demonstrate clearly that investing in children and in help to parents - single ones in particular - makes better and safer societies in the long run.

"A new report from the U.N. Children's Fund says the United States and Britain are the worst countries in the industrialized world in which to be a child. UNICEF says an examination of 40 factors, such as poverty, deprivation, happiness, relationships, and risky or bad behavior puts the United States and Britain at the bottom of a list of 21 economically developed nations.
...
In the overall table of children's well-being, the Netherlands comes out on top, followed closely by the Scandinavian countries, which also have highly developed welfare systems. At the bottom are the United States at No. 20, and Britain at No. 21.

...
The United States fared worst of all 21 countries in health and safety, measured by rates of infant mortality and accidents and injuries.

The United States and Britain were lowest overall in the category of behavior and risks, meaning that American and British children are more likely to use drugs, drink alcohol and be sexually active than children elsewhere." (my bold)

(Excerpts from the article on NPR, where a link to the report can be found in *.pdf: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7407245 )

The Unicef page, http://www.unicef.org/media/media_38299.html

[Nutmegger]

1. OH that goddamn socialism!

Another thing to be embarrassed about.

I'm tired of being embarrassed. :(

[kenny blankenship]

6. That's right, Mr. Socialist, hook 'em while their young!

Make them dependent on that nanny-state junk and then, boom, grab their guns and gas 'em right in the gulag!

Is it just a coincidence that to molest and Socialist rhyme?

[SoCalDem]

2. Nice, but when you are 4 and up, you can still get sick.

Countries just need to bite the damned bullet, fire all the insurance companies and pay doctors & for the medical care .

It;s the very least a country owes its citizens..

[Eric J in MN]

3. The article is about child care (nurseries), not health care. (NT)

NT

[demoleft]

4. Agreed. This is a childcare system I appreciate: the Swedish one.

"Swedish childcare has twin aims. One is to make it possible forparents to combine parenthood with employment or studies and the other is to support and encourage children's development and learning and help them grow up under conditions that are conducive to their well-being. This dual-purpose approach was officially laid down in the early 1970s with the launching of a large-scale development programme for Swedish childcare. Along with the parental insurance and child benefit systems, childcare has been a cornerstone of Swedish family welfare policy while at the same having an explicitly educational orientation. In recent years, the educational policy aspects of childcare have come increasingly to the fore and in 1996 responsibility for public childcare was transferred to the Ministry of Education, Research and Culture."

(The Swedish National Agency for Education, http://www.skolverket.se/sb/d/354/a/944;jsessionid=65BEC3ADDAF946204D0254712C69DE78 )

My bolds to highlight the biggest problems we have, for example, in southern Europe.
It's a new perspective on family and on the role of society for children's well-being. A bit more Platonic as to the responsibility of the State towards its own children.

Many advanced welfare policies were launched after the '68 cultural revolutions.
But today even many leaders on the European left side forget those days and those turning points. And their youth.
And the "I have a dream" enthusiasm of the old days, with all its courage to change.

[madfloridian]

5. What a superior system to what is going on here.

:hi: