1942: Child Welfare

Wartime Problems: Children's Charter.

War has serious effects on children, even in a situation where the danger of death by bombing or starvation is remote. The sense of security, prime essential of childhood, may be shattered by absence of parents from the home, by uncertainties connected with rising living costs and wartime rationing, by removal to crowded and unsuitable living quarters in a defense area, by curtailed schooling, and even by alarmist rumors. To institute and maintain measures for reinforcing the security, health, and well-being of children is the task of child welfare today.

The Children's Bureau Commission on Children in Wartime, which met for the first time March 16-18, 1942, adopted a Children's Charter in Wartime expressing four general objectives for children: To guard children from injury in danger zones; to protect children from neglect, exploitation, and undue strain in defense areas; to strengthen the home life of children whose parents are mobilized for war or war production; and to conserve, equip, and free children of every race and creed to take their part in democracy.

This charter was followed by the drafting of a program of state action adopted by the Commission in August 1942, which listed ten measures as important in every state program of action. These include, with special reference in each case to war conditions, health services and medical and dental care for mothers and for children; adequate nourishing food for all children; protection of children in danger zones; day care for children of mothers whose employment is essential to the war program; special assistance programs as required to meet wartime needs of children in their own homes, and adjustment of public-assistance measures to meet problems due to rising cost of living, migration, and separation of families; community child-welfare and other social services; adequate provision for the care of children who because of war conditions must be separated from their families; opportunities for recreation and other experiences in home and community life that will help children overcome wartime strain and insecurity, and provision for mental-health services to help children and parents make the adjustments required by war conditions; full school attendance and school opportunity for every child; and meeting the manpower needs of the nation for participation of young people in war production, having due regard for conservation of health and educational opportunity for youth in accordance with specified principles. (See CHILD LABOR.)

During the year plans for the protection of children and mothers in danger zones, for their evacuation in case of military necessity, and for their care in reception areas were prepared and held in readiness; in the Territory of Hawaii it was necessary to evacuate a number of mothers with young children, pregnant women, and crippled children to rural parts of the islands or to the mainland.

Children of Employed Mothers.

Care for the children of employed mothers emerged as a major problem as the war production program gathered momentum. The number of women working in war industries rose from 1,400,000 in December 1941 to something like 4,500,000 by the end of 1942, according to estimates of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Employment Security, with further large increases in prospect. How many of these women are responsible for the care of young children is not known, but sample surveys carried on in war production plants and defense communities showed a large number of children of working mothers for whom no satisfactory care was available. Instances were reported of young children left during the day without care, of children kept out of school to take care of younger children, of children taken sick in school who could not be sent home because there was no one there, of boys and girls drifting into delinquency because of lack of parental supervision and the absence of community facilities for wholesome recreation.

Recognizing that a mother's first concern, in war as in peace, should be the health and welfare of her child, the War Manpower Commission issued a directive stating that mothers of young children should not be recruited for employment while other sources of labor are available, but that suitable care should be provided for the children of mothers who are employed. The Children's Bureau, which had been concerned with community planning for day care of children of mothers employed in war production since the summer of 1941, set up a day-care section which offers consultation service to states and local communities. Federal funds for the promotion, coordination, and administration of child-care programs were made available through the Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services under plans submitted by state welfare departments and recommended for approval by the Children's Bureau and plans submitted by state education departments and recommended for approval by the Office of Education. By the middle of January, 24 plans for services to children of working mothers had been approved — 12 submitted by welfare departments and 12 submitted by education departments. The services offered in individual communities vary according to need. They include counseling service for mothers who are employed or are seeking employment; foster-family day care; day-care centers providing all-day care for children 2 to 5 years of age, inclusive; homemaker service; nursery schools and extended school services for children who need care and supervision before and after regular school hours; and day and vacation camps. At least 34 states have organized state-wide committees on day care, many of them being subcommittees of the children's committee of the state defense council, and more than 250 local committees have been formed. Surveys of local needs had been made in more than 300 communities.

Social Security Program.

The basic maternal and child-welfare programs under the Social Security Act, which the states carry on in cooperation with the Children's Bureau, were maintained during the year, with adaptation of the services to meet wartime needs so far as possible.

The President in August recommended that the Act be amended to authorize the appropriation of additional funds to meet the special needs of mothers and children arising from war conditions, but although bills were introduced for this purpose, no action had been taken on them when Congress adjourned in December.

Child-Health and Maternity Care.

The need for maternal and child-health services was increased by the shortages of physicians, nurses, and hospital facilities, especially in war production areas. The services provided by state health departments with the help of Federal funds include prenatal clinics and child-health conferences under medical supervision; medical examinations of school children; public-health-nursing services for mothers and children; dental services; and consultation services in nutrition. A feature which received increasing emphasis in a number of states was the payment of physicians and hospitals for delivery and postpartum care of mothers and for care of sick children. Special efforts were made to provide obstetric care for the wives of men in the armed forces. Plans for this purpose have been approved for 26 states and Hawaii (as of Jan. 12, 1943).

The importance of immunizing children against contagious diseases as a preventive measure in wartime was stressed by the President in his May Day-Child Health Day proclamation. A widespread campaign for immunization of children 9 months of age and over was carried on with the cooperation of the state health departments during the spring of 1942, with the result that the number of vaccinations against smallpox given under their supervision almost trebled and immunizations against diphtheria more than doubled as compared with the previous spring.

Orthopedic surgeons were in great demand for service with the armed forces. State agencies administering the program for crippled children endeavored to meet the loss of staff surgeons by sending children to other states for treatment and by postponing certain types of corrective work. The number of crippled children on state registers increased 11 per cent during the year, reaching 340,692 on June 30, 1942.

Welfare Services.

In the program of child-welfare services, emphasis shifted toward work in urban rather than in rural areas, as small communities became large ones through war activities and as child-welfare workers were assigned to war production centers and military areas where needs were greatest. Nevertheless the majority of the 510 local child-welfare workers paid in whole or in part from Federal funds (as of June 30, 1942) were serving in rural counties. In a typical month some 50,000 children received case-work service through this program.

Dependent Children.

Programs for aid to dependent children were operating during 1942 under plans approved by the Social Security Board (Federal Security Agency) in the District of Columbia, Hawaii, and 45 states. In October 1942 monthly benefits amounting to $12,801,194 of Federal, state, and local funds combined were paid by county welfare agencies under these plans to nearly 900,000 children.

Allowances to Families of Enlisted Men.

Children of enlisted men are entitled to receive monthly allowances under the Servicemen's Dependents Allowance Act of 1942. The allowance for a family consisting of wife and one child is $62 a month, made up in part from Federal funds and in part through a deduction from the service man's pay. The allowance is increased by $10 for each additional child. If there is no wife the allowance is $42 a month for one child and $10 for each additional child.

Juvenile Delinquency.

The disturbing effect on children and youth of disrupted family life, parental absence, and the excitements of a war period was reflected in an increase in juvenile delinquency that was apparent as early as 1941. In some 500 juvenile courts reporting to the Children's Bureau the number of delinquency cases disposed of increased 6 per cent in 1941, compared with 1940. Reports of sex delinquencies among girls in areas adjacent to military camps and industrial centers have been increasingly frequent.

Vital Statistics.

Mortality and live birth statistics for 1941, issued by the United States Bureau of the Census, reflect a continued improvement in health conditions among children and mothers. The number of live births registered was 2,513,427 and the live birth rate was 19 per 1,000 estimated population — the highest rate for any year since 1930. Indications are that the 1942 rate was in the vicinity of 20. The deaths of 113,949 infants under 1 year of age were recorded, giving an infant mortality rate of 45 per 1,000 live births. The previous low rate, recorded in 1940, was 47. Even more marked was the reduction in maternal mortality. Based on the deaths of 7,956 women from causes associated with pregnancy and child birth, the maternal mortality rate for 1941 was 32 per 10,000 live births — compared with a 1940 rate of 38, which in turn was lower than that for any previous year.

Japanese Relocated Families.

Of all the children of the United States, those upon whom the entry of the United States into the war fell with the heaviest impact, as a group, were probably the children of Japanese ancestry living in the Pacific Coast region. With their families they were evacuated by the Army in a succession of mass migrations to temporary assembly centers. About two-thirds of the 110,000 persons so evacuated were American citizens, many of them having parents who were also American born. Children under 16, all of American birth, made up 25 per cent of the total. Within a few months all of them had been established in relocation centers under the supervision of the War Relocation Authority, which is responsible for providing not only food and housing, but schools, medical care, and organized recreation. By the end of the year more than 350 students had been given indefinite leave to attend colleges which offered to take them. Plans had been set up by the War Relocation Authority for the gradual reabsorption of families as quickly as possible into normal community life, and nearly 1,000 families had already been granted indefinite leave to resettle in the interior where they had assurance of work and community acceptance.

Pan-American Child Welfare.

The concern of all the American Republics for the protection of children in wartime dominated the Eighth Pan-American Child Congress, which took place in Washington, D. C., in May 1942, under the auspices of the United States Government and with the active participation of the Children's Bureau and other Government agencies. The Congress formulated a Declaration of Opportunities for Children and passed resolutions on the protection of children in wartime and in the post-war period, and on inter-American cooperation. The American International Institute for the Protection of Childhood, with headquarters in Montevideo, Uruguay and the governments of several American Republics reported action on some of these resolutions within 6 months.

Improvement of nutrition continued to receive attention, especially in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela. In Mexico the National Commission on Foods has begun to introduce properly balanced meals in the public-welfare institutions and foster homes and through public dining halls.

Social-insurance laws providing benefits for children and mothers, and maternity care, were enacted in Costa Rica and in Ecuador. In Peru, where the new education law requires instruction in child care in schools for girls, a 'center for mothers' education' was established in Lima, and instruction in child care was added to the curriculum of teacher-training schools.

Children in Other Countries.

The scarcity of reliable information on children of other continents prevailing since the beginning of the war continued throughout 1942. It cannot be doubted that the health situation of mothers and children deteriorated consistently in countries where food and fuel shortages, already serious, were intensified by the continuance of war conditions. In England the Minister of Health reported as of March 31, 1942, that no major epidemic had occurred and no falling away from nutritional standards had taken place. Nevertheless, the maternal mortality rate rose from 2.60 per 1,000 births in 1940 to 2.76 in 1941 and the infant mortality rate rose to 59 per 1,000 live births, compared with 56 in 1940 and 50 in 1939.

Brief reports from Belgium, France, and Great Britain indicate an increase in juvenile delinquency; this is attributed mainly to the disruption of family life and interrupted school attendance. In Switzerland a federation of private welfare agencies has been bringing in groups of children from France and Belgium for a 3-month vacation, usually in private homes.

In Germany an administrative order, effective July 1, 1942, which applies to women in many kinds of employment including office work, replaced the law of 1927 which was concerned with women in industry only. The order prohibits the employment of expectant mothers in strenuous, harmful, or dangerous work. Maternity leave is provided at full pay for 6 weeks before and for 6 to 8 weeks after childbirth. Overtime work, night work, and work on Sundays or holidays is prohibited for expectant and nursing mothers, and time is allowed for nursing the children. Except for a few minor safeguards this order does not apply to Jewish and other non-German women.

Pensions to widows with children under 16 years of age are paid in Australia under a Commonwealth law effective July 1, 1942. This law supplements the Child Endowment Act of 1941, which provides for an allowance for each child under 16, except the first, irrespective of the parents' income.