Kagan Chairs White House Forum on Day Care

How does the working woman with kids unload them while she's away during the day? If she's got money, she may hire an English nanny or a babysitter.

If she doesn't, she might have to give up her job or leave the kids alone to do any number of things, like playing with stoves and matches and maybe even dodging those big shiny things in the street.

These problems, and their solution through day-care centers, are being studied by a forum headed by a Harvard professor, as part of the seventh White House Conference on Children.

Jerome Kagan, professor of Developmental Psychology, is chairman of a group of 160 nationwide representatives who hope to formulate legislation to establish a nationwide system of day-care centers.

"There is no question that there is a definite need for day-care centers. More and more mothers are working either out of necessity or simply because they want to," Kagan said in a telephone interview yesterday from Washington, D. C.

The ones who really need day-care centers are the mothers who are working because they have to," Kagan said. "It's the poor people who need them the most, and that's the reason why the Federal government must finance them."

Kagan said that there are about 90 per cent women in the forum. "Everyone here is quite serious. I don't think anyone feels that he has to convince anyone else of the necessity and urgency of what we're involved in."

The air of seriousness was unusual in other respects, Kagan emphasized. "There's been none of the carrying on that is usually associated with these sort of Washington affairs," Kagan said.

"What we're trying to do here is toprovide some sort of guideline for the legislators to work with in initiating legislators to work with in initiating legislation for day-care centers," he said. "While there are already four bills on that subject pending-Senators Javits and Bayh are sponsoring two-they are largely incomplete and really only a start," he added.

24 Other Forums

The forum led by Kagan is only one of 25 being held at the White House Conference. Others include topics such as education, nutrition, health, and prejudice.

The Conference, comprised of 4000 delegates, began Sunday night, and lasts until next Monday. President Nixon opened the gathering with a speech Sunday night, urging passage of his Family Assistance Plan. He said that it was "the most important piece of social legislation in our nation's history" for children.