A four-year study aimed to learn how welfare reform affects children's upbringing and development, showing early warning signals such as low-quality childcare and social isolation among women. The report provides a baseline picture for 948 families across three states and suggests an unfinished agenda for cash assistance and family support programs to lift children out of poverty.

Latino children are less likely to be enrolled in preschools, even after considering household income and maternal employment. Social factors such as language, child-rearing beliefs, and practices also impact center selection. African American families participate at higher rates, while lower enrollment for Latinos is linked to Spanish-speaking households and cultural preferences. Center selection is part of a broader parental agenda of acculturation to middle-class Anglo commitments to prepare children for school.

The growing demand for compensatory education and for child care has generated a rash of federal legislation; many states have enacted new early childhood programs, most of them located within schooling systems, and many others are considering their options. This article examines the basic policy issues governments confront in early childhood education, including the content of programs, their financing, and the inevitable trade-off between cost and quality. The final section of the article outlines the available policy options.