Latchkey Children

Latchkey Children Latchkey Children are children who return from school to an empty house because their parents are away working or their just left alone at home with little or no parental supervision. In today's society this is becoming more and more common due to the fact that in most households, both parents carry a job or career to support the family. Other names for Latchkey Children are "children in self-care", "children of working parents", "unsupervised children" etc. Leaving a child unsupervised after school can pose both positive and negative effects. According to the article "Ranks of latchkey kids approach 7 million" many children aren't supervised by anybody. This is due to the fact that most households today have both parents working full time to support the family. This wasn't the case a generation ago when most households had only one parent working full time and the other parent staying at home to care for the child. Our society used to encourage woman to stay at home and care for their children, this is not the case no more. (Ranks of latchkey kids approach 7 million pg. 1)" the percentage of married mothers who worked outside the home nearly doubled between 1969 and 1996". This statistic is concrete proof that the number of latchkey children is on the rise in our ever-changing society. According to the article, another reason for the rise in unsupervised children is the rising cost of child care. Simply put, most families and households can't afford these rising costs. (Ranks of latchkey kids approach 7 million pg.2) "In 1995, parents paid an average $85 a week for such care- about 50 percent more than they spent a decade earlier". According to this article these rising child-care costs play a big part in the reason why many families choose to leave their children to care for themselves once the school day is over. The Census Bureau reports that at least 7 million Latchkey Children