There has been little qualitative research done by anthropologists and sociologists on formal and informal American child-care arrangements. This paper suggests directions for research in ways that are useful for theory and rele vant to policy and program. Research topics should include: ascertaining informal child-care arrangements such as babysitting and sibling care; comparative ethnographies of different types of centers; eliciting the ways in which center operations affect the experience of the child; analyzing staff-parent mediation practices; and ascertaining the ways in which government and agency, through supervision and intepention, affect center operations. Results would help in the development of appropriate policy for each of the participants involved. EARLY CHlLDHOOD EDUCATION, SOCIALIZATION, UNlTED STATES, POLICY AND PROGRAM RESEARCH, LOCAL POLITICS.Child care in the United States has become a topic of national concern. There is little agreement (or clarity) over what constitutes adequate or superior child care and who should be the agents responsible for it. Comparisons are made to other countries.' American child-care arrangements, both informal and formal, are seen as "wanting" by many groups. Other groups argue that the very idea of care outside the home by agents other than the mother is a disgrace. In addition, there has been belated recognition that the changed role of women in America has modified the traditional meaning of "child care," in this case, child raising.Child care, anthropologically speaking, can be understood as the series of arrangements for the caring of children which derive from family lifestyles and external factors such as the economy and the nature of regulation in the larger society. These arrangements are likely to affect the experience, if not the development, of the child. Anthropologists using this perspective have much to contribute to the debate over types of child care in this country. This paper is an exploration both for anthropologists and non-anthropologists of research priorities in child care; it is put into a loose framework of relevant theory so that different people can communicate with each other in areas where they may not necessarily share the same vocabulary and perspective.2Much of the material contained in the paper is a consequence of a special conference held by Committee 1, Schools and
