Penelope Leach, the universally admired author of the best-selling classic Your Baby and Child, diagnoses the state of child care in America and the world today. Who is caring for today's children? How well are they succeeding? What does care cost, and who is paying for it? Leach answers these and other urgent questions with facts and figures gathered from the most current research, brought to life by the voices of parents, including those involved in her own five-year study. She highlights the urgent need in America today for measures to raise the quality of child care and to make the best care we can provide available to all families, just as it is in most other developed nations. Setting out clearly and candidly what is known about every aspect of child care--including the often hidden feelings and fears of parents--Leach presents a critical case for change.