Two-paycheck families:
The economic demands of family life in America today have resulted in a rethinking of previously held social expectations regarding the care and education of young children. Traditional concepts of family and work no longer apply for most Americans. Young married couples have moved away from their families of origin, the neighbor down the street has gone off to work, and grandparents are working past "retirement age." For many families, it has become necessary for both husbands and wives to work outside the home in order to survive financially. Reliable, quality child care has become essential for the peace of mind and productivity of parents in the work force.

Single parent families:
Since 1950, the percentage of children living in one-parent families has nearly tripled, partly due to the increased divorce rate and the ten-fold increase in the numbers of births outside marriage. More than one quarter of California's children (17 years of age and younger) live in single-parent homes, nearly 82% of those with their mother. Many of these single-parent families are a result of adolescent pregnancies. More than one million adolescent girls become pregnant in this country every year. Childcare is a necessity for single parents, if they are to work outside the home.

Welfare to Work
In the past several years, federal and state actions to reform the welfare system resulted in a fundamental restructuring of the state's subsidized child care system. In 1996, as part of a federal welfare reform bill, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block program replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). The bill also established a lifetime limit of five years for cash assistance and set in place work requirements for participants.

California's welfare reform is known as California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS). It established three program phases designed to gradually transition families from public assistance to self-sufficiency. The phases (stages) provide child care subsidies for recipients as indicated below:

• Stage 1: Child care subsidies are provided for the first six months that a recipient receives aid, typically while they are in training or in a work activity program.
  
  

• Stage 2: Recipients receive subsidized child care for up to two years after termination of their CalWORKS cash aid.
  
  

• Stage 3: Some child care subsidies are available for CalWORKS recipients who have completed stage 2, yet still qualify as "working poor."