It was a troubling tale about children sleeping alone in cars while their parents worked that captured the attention of the Clinton administration.
''We heard individual stories that were told by people whose quality of life had been eroded because they had no child care during the off-hours they worked,'' says Karen Nussbaum, director of the Women's Bureau, a division of the US Labor Department.
In a report released yesterday, the Labor Department examined problems faced by Americans who work graveyard shifts, swing shifts or weekends and cannot find child care that corresponds with their hours or meets their needs.
Called ''Care Around the Clock,'' the report offers solutions for employers, communities and parents who wish to increase the amount and quality of child care available during off-hours.
One of the options proposed: all-night child-care centers. ''Right now, the mismatch between workers' fluid schedules and available care is taking a toll on families and the economy,'' said Robert Reich, the labor secretary. ''We can and must do something.''
The Labor Department said about one in five US workers -- 14.3 million people -- don't follow a 9-5 schedule, while most child care centers continue to operate during traditional work hours, creating a dilemma that is fast becoming endemic in the country. Among the employees caught in this Catch 22: about 7.2 million working mothers with 11.7 million children under the age of 15, the study said.
Child-care experts said they were not surprised. ''In most communities across the country, it is still hard to find child care during a regular work day, but the problem is compounded when parents work nontraditional hours,'' said Mary Kay Leonard, vice president of Work/ Family Directions, a Brookline consulting firm that assists companies in developing work and family programs.
But not everyone likes the idea of all-night day care. Ann Ribolini, director of the Copper Beach Montessori child-care center in Jamaica Plain, sees 24-hour child care as a troubling trend. Most children, she said, want to wake up in their own beds and most cherish those few moments alone with their parents at night.
''It's a shame that people who have young children are not supported by our society,'' she said. ''In a lot of ways, I think it's a bad idea. What kind of life is that for parents or children?'' She said that in many European countries, emphasis is placed on giving parents more time with their families.''
The Labor Department report attributed the demand for round-the-clock centers to the US economy, which is quickly becoming a 24-hour operation as more and more employers shift to new scheduling to meet consumer demand and customer needs. The trend toward maximizing output also means more nontraditional shifts.
During a press conference at an all-night center in San Francisco, Nussbaum said she was appalled to learn that more than half the shift workers at a food-processing plant in Idaho were leaving their sleeping children in cars parked in the company lot while they worked.
''With this report we wanted to alert parents, community leaders and employers that this problem exists,'' she said. ''By banding together, we might find an answer.''
Nussbaum and Reich also recommended other options, including child-care programs designed by companies to suit workers' schedules; partnerships among local governments, companies and community organizations, and employer consortiums. The latter occurs when a group of employers band together to share resources and provide joint child-care programs.
For the most part, specialists said, many parents must rely on friends, neighbors, family members, spouses and older children to babysit.
''Children get left in lots of different places at lots of different hours,'' said Patricia Hnatiuk, director of child care training programs at Wheelock College in Boston. ''I've known parents who have quit jobs and gone on welfare or unemployment until they could find suitable arrangements for their children.''
And even when off-hour child care is available many employees find them that they are costly because of the hours involved, said child care consultant Gwen Morgan of Wheelock.
''Because there is not much off-hour child care available, supply and
demand may have an affect on the cost,'' Morgan said. ''If you work odd hours,
you are looking for a product that is still so scarce the prices are higher.''