Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, August 13, 1995                   TAG: 9508110079
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: D4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CAROL KLEIMAN CHICAGO TRIBUNE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DAY CARE DOESN'T BEGIN TO DO THE JOB FOR NIGHT WORKERS

Jackson, who lives in Riverdale, Ill., has a job waiting for her. It pays $5.50 to $6 an hour.

``It's a production-line job in a nearby factory, but all that's available is the second shift, from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m.,'' said Jackson, a high school graduate who takes courses in banking and finance ``when I can'' at a community college.

``The problem is I try, but I can't get child care at night. There's plenty available during the day, but the jobs that pay and that I can get are at night. Good jobs in production are not available during the day because that's when everyone wants to work.''

So Jackson works part-time during the day - she recently had a job delivering phone books - and relies on Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

Jackson said she sees the irony of wanting to be self-sufficient but, because of a lack of child care, being on welfare.

``I need a sitter in my home,'' Jackson said. ``Or I need day care at someone else's house to take the children to at night. Or I need a child-care facility at the place I work, where my children can sleep.''

She said she's considered becoming a child-care worker herself but needs to make enough money to get off welfare.

Her question: ``Why doesn't someone spend money to open up night-care centers or for trying to get existing providers to extend their hours?''

That's a good question. And Jackson isn't the only one asking it.

More than 14 million Americans - nearly one of five full-time workers - work ``nonstandard'' hours, according to the Women's Bureau of the Labor Department.

According to a recent study by the bureau, 7.2 million women with 11.7 million children younger than 15 worked full- or part-time nonstandard hours in 1990.

``The number of women and men working nonstandard hours is expected to grow,'' said Karen Nussbaum, bureau director. ``The trend toward a more service-based economy means more businesses are operating during early mornings, nights and weekends.''Though Jackson wants to work in manufacturing, service jobs have the highest and fastest-growing percentage of shift workers - 42 percent - the report noted. And most of those jobs are held by women.

Jackson is adamant that she will not trust her children to anything but quality child care. She is ``picky,'' she admitted, because she worries about child molestation or abuse.

Other parents often are forced to lower their standards. Nussbaum said she began to research nonstandard hours when she ``received reports that children were left sleeping in cars in an Idaho factory parking lot while their parents worked late shifts.''

Issues of child care are continually evolving, with nonstandard hours one of the newest to be addressed.

``In the past, most women who had to work outside the home relied on relatives to watch their children,'' said Ellen Bravo, executive director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women, and author of ``The Job/Family Challenge: Not for Women Only.''

``But today, the relatives are likely to be holding jobs themselves. That means finding - and paying - someone, who may well be a stranger, to care for the children you cherish.''

Bravo noted that day-care centers usually ``operate from early morning to early evening. Some care only for preschool children.'' But Bravo added: ``Some centers are being set up as sleep centers for children of parents who work at night.''

Here are some of these centers, according to the Women's Bureau:

Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Georgetown, Ky., has a 24-hour child-care center for 230 children ages 6 weeks to 13 years.

Close to Home, a consortium of Phoenix employers, recruits and trains child-care providers willing to provide services for nonstandard hours.

Palcare, a nonprofit group in San Francisco formed by unions, employers, community groups and local government, operates a center seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Children's Inn of Atlanta, a 24-hour facility, is sponsored by the Atlanta Marriott Marquis and Marriott Suites Midtown, the Omni Hotel and Hyatt Regency Atlanta. It serves nonstandard hourly employees of the hospitality industry.

For copies of the federal report, ``Care Around the Clock,'' call (800) 827-5335.