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  3. Children are a delight. They are our future. But sadly, hiring someone to ta

Children are a delight. They are our future. But sadly, hiring someone to ta

游客2024-01-28  76
问题     Children are a delight. They are our future. But sadly, hiring someone to take care of them while you go to work is getting more expensive by the year.
    Earlier this month, it was reported that the cost of enrolling an infant or small kid at a childcare center rose 3% in 2012, faster than the overall cost of living. There are now large strips of the country where daycare for an infant costs more than a tenth of the average married couple’s income.
    This is not necessarily a new trend, but it is a somewhat puzzling one. The price of professional childcare has been rising since the 1980s. Yet during that time, pay for professional childcare workers has stood still. Actually caregivers make less today, in real terms, than they did in 1990. Considering that labor costs are responsible for up to 80% of a daycare center’s expenses, one would expect flat wages to have meant flat prices.
    So who’s to blame for higher childcare costs?
    Childcare is a carefully regulated industry.States lay down rules about how many children each employee is allowed to watch over, the space care centers need per child, and other minute details. And the stricter the regulations, the higher the costs.If it has to hire a caregiver for every two children, it can’t really achieve any economies of scale on labor to save money when other expenses go up. In Massachusetts, where childcare centers must hire one teacher for every three infants, the price of care averaged more than $16,000 per year. In Mississippi, where centers must hire one teacher for every five infants, the price of care averaged less than $5,000.
Unfortunately, I don’t have all the daycare-center regulations handy. But I wouldn’t be surprised if as the rules have become more elaborate, prices have risen. The tradeoff (交换)might be worth it in some cases; after all, the health and safety of children should probably come before cheap service. But certainly, it doesn’t seem to be an accident that some of the cheapest daycare available is in the least regulated South. [br] What problem do parents of small kids have to face?
选项 A、The ever-rising childcare prices.
B、The budgeting of family expenses.
C、The balance between work and family.
D、The selection of a good daycare center.
答案 A
解析 文章开头指出，有孩子是件乐事，接着用but进行转折，总述当前形势：雇人照看孩子的费用却逐年升高。第二段承接第一段，用数据进行详细说明：2012年婴幼儿在托儿所的报名费上涨了3%，上涨速度比生活总成本的上涨速度还快。由此可知，幼儿父母必须面临的问题是不断上涨的保育价格，故答案为A。
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