With one in four mothers in the workforcemaintaining her own family and the number ofsingle mothers more than doubling in the last 25years, employers have started to address theissue.

But most experts agree that companies and thegovernment have done too little, too late in thearea of child care. Last year 24 million childrenin the United States under age 13 needed day care,yet there were only 1.5 million licensed spots.

"Presently the United States is the onlyWestern country without subsidized child care,"says Berenice Sandler, director of the Project onthe Status and Education of Women. "We say we careabout children, but we don't put our money whereour mouth is."

Shifting Emphasis

Experts say employers should have a vestedinterest in child care because it reduces anxietyand absenteeism among workers.

"If you don't think that family life affectswork life, just look around at 3:15 when phonelines start to buzz as workers call home to checkon their kids," says Ellen Galenski, co-presidentof the Families and Worklife Institute.

But in 1988, only 4150 out of 6 million U.S.businesses of all sizes gave support to employeechild care needs--despite the fact that the firstjoint management-government child care center wasnegotiated by a union in 1968.

Because of this, national unions havebegun--slowly--to negotiate child care programsfor workers, a response many union organizersattribute to the lack of initiative on the part ofmanagement and government.

"Whenever government takes a walk, employershave to step in and unions must lead the fight,"says chief HUCTW organizer Kris Rondeau.

At the American Federation of State, County andMunicipal Employees (AFSCME)--HUCTW's parentunion--President Gerald R. McEntee hasconsistently placed child care on the top of hisagenda. When he first became president of theunion, which now represents more women than anyother in the country, McEntee set up a task forceto address the problem nationally.

"Before President McEntee, child care playedvirtually no role at the bargaining table," saysBrenda Hall, an AFSCME researcher.

Labor's new interest in child care hasdefinitely taken on a new, more aggressivecharacter, experts say. On June 21, the AFL-CIOwill bring one family from each of the 50 statesto lobby their representatives in support of childcare legislation and the Family Medical Leave Act.

In addition, AFL-CIO officials have beeninstrumental in pushing for new legislation thatwould provide $2.5 billion for child caresubsidies.

But despite the new politicization around thechild care issue, unions at other universitycampuses were not very successful in securingchild care benefits for workers in their firstcontracts.

For example, the clerical workers at Columbiadidn't negotiate a straight dollar subsidy tocover child care costs until their second time atthe negotiating table.