recent changes in federal government priorities have resulted in reduced financial support for parents using child care. This comes at a time when there is increasing social and economic pressure on parents, particularly mothers, to work. The issue of caring for children and working mothers has long been a subject of controversy. many argue that the best place for children is always their own home with their parents. However, I am convinced that there are many benefits to using child care services and that the government should provide more financial assistance to those who do so. It has been argued that children who attend child care centers at an early age miss out on important early learning that occurs in parent-child interaction. These children, so this argument goes, may be educationally disadvantaged later in life. however, childcare centers can actually assist children in their early learning. they give children the opportunity to socialize with others and develop social skills at an early age. Indeed, a whole range of learning activities take place in childcare centres. Another argument against the use of child care facilities is that children may be emotionally deprived in these facilities compared to home. This argument assumes that the best place for children is to be next to their parents, especially their mother, twenty-four hours a day. argues that children's emotional development can be damaged when they are left in child care facilities. However, parents and children need to spend some time apart. Children have become less dependent on their parents and parents themselves are less stressed and care for them more effectively when there are periods of separation. It could also be argued that the government and the economy as a whole cannot afford the enormous costs associated with supporting child care for working parents.