Explores four questions: What is child day care? Is day day-care regulation sufficiently different from 24-hour care licensing to require a whole new statutory base? Is facility licensure the most appropriate regulatory safeguard for all categories of day care? What other regulatory safeguards are needed? (Author/DB)

Describes a study of relationships among costs of child care, nature of children's child care experiences, and their effects on children. Findings in the areas of quality; costs, revenue, and support; sector comparisons; and economic environment reveal that most child care is mediocre in quality. Makes recommendations to improve child care. (BAC)