How to Save Money for the Future

All savings are viewed favorably if you’re applying for leases or loans for cars, education, or housing.

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What are the pros and cons of using a nanny camera?

Deciding whether to use a nanny cam to monitor how a babysitter or caregiver is handling the task of managing your children is a difficult dilemma. Parents have the option of putting their trust in the person they have tasked with taking care of their children or monitoring that person’s activities using cameras that are strategically put around the house.

The first aspect that we must go over is the legality. In the United States, it is completely legal for someone to record video of anything going on in their house when there is a reason to do so. Spying on a nanny through a camera is fine. But there are some states where audio recordings of another person are not legally permissible, even if they were recorded in your own home.

Pros of Using a Nanny Camera

1. Peace of Mind

The biggest reason why a parent would want to use cameras to spy on the nanny is to obtain peace of mind. Instead of constantly worrying about how your nanny is treating your child, or how your child is behaving in these situations, you will know that everything is fine and above board.

2. Exercising Your Rights

The reality is that someone is taking care of your kids in your home. It is your right to know what is going on. It is the same as having a camera set up to look at what your kids are doing when they have left home alone – as they get older. If your kids get home from school at 4 PM, but you do not get back until a few hours later, you would have a camera setup to see what is going on at the house. It is the same concept with a nanny cam. A stranger is taking care of your kids, and you want to know what is going on.

3. Communication

If you know what is happening, you can correct small mistakes. Perhaps your nanny is doing something your child does not appreciate, such as sever scolding when they misbehave, and you know a better way for them to achieve a given result. You can tell your nanny what to do if you could see what he or she is doing wrong.

Cons of Using a Nanny Camera

1. Violating Trust

If you are hiring an experienced nanny who has a great reputation, and you are using cameras to spy on them, you may break their trust. If the nanny finds out about these cameras, it may cause them to leave the job unless you take them down.

2. Misleading Footage

When you are watching a camera recording from a specific angle, it is hard to get the full context of what is happening. Maybe you only see the beginning or end of an incident, or you see it from a bad angle. Something that looks like neglect or abuse could be a misunderstanding caused by poor video footage.

3. Invasion of Privacy

It is one thing to have a camera set up in one or two rooms of the house, where your nanny and child are spending time during the day. But if you have cameras set up all over the house, and even in rooms like the bathroom, you are invading the privacy of the person taking care of your child.

If you want to avoid using a nanny cam, we will suggest that you thoroughly review potential caregiver through interviews, background checks, following up with some references and clearly communicate your expectations. If you decide to use a nanny cam, do let them know upfront during the hiring process.

Looking for daycare providers? Sign up for a free account at Topdaycarecenters and discover childcare recommended by friends and parents.

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Relative measures of effects can be misleading

How America’s ‘childcare expenses’ are driving women out of the workforce

When looking at the unemployment rate in the United States, it is easy to misconstrue the low number as meaning that a high percentage of Americans are working stable jobs. Not only does the number include a significant portion of part-time workers, but it also does not include those who have completely dropped out of the workforce. These are people who do not even want to try and find a job right now. One of the groups that fall under this category are moms who could not find affordable childcare for their kid.

Trends in Female Employment

Interestingly, the number of women that are actively looking for a job, or working, is going through a two-decade decline. And we are still going downward. It is also the same time when the cost of childcare began to increase. Is there are a relation between these two trends, or is it a mere coincidence?

A study from a student at Princeton University analyzed the trend of women’s unemployment, starting in 1985 and continuing to 2011. The years were chosen because the mid-1980s represents a time when women were entering the workforce in huge numbers. And by the 1990s, we were at a stage where female participation in the workforce was at its highest level. But now there are many other first-world nations that are surpassed the United States for the percentage of women who are in the workforce.

For the United States, the peak came around 1995, and it has been steadily declining ever since. It is not a huge decline, but it is a decline nonetheless. In contrast, countries such as Canada, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Netherlands, and Italy have all experienced steady increases. Each country had some blips, where the percentage went down, but the general trend is still an upward one.

Cost of Child Care

Between 1990 and 2010, the cost of childcare went up by 32 percent. In comparison, wages stagnated for most types of workers. That means the average lower to middle-class family experienced a situation where it was costing them more money every few years to get quality child care, but they were still being paid roughly the same amount of money as before.

The Princeton study discovered that since 1995, a roughly five percent decrease in total employment for women has taken place because of childcare expenses. And a roughly thirteen percent decline exists among working mothers with children under the age of five. The data shows that mothers with young children do not find it financially feasible to have a full-time job and put their child in daycare. It saves the family money to have one parent working, while the other stays home.

Many families attempt to find informal arrangements, such as friends or relatives looking after kids while they work. But those are not possible for every family, which is why we are seeing a steady decline in female participation in the workforce. Until the cost of childcare is controlled, or wages rise with respect to inflation, there will be little change in the trend.

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What is a Guideline?

Despite being widely used, particularly in healthcare, guidelines are not well understood by many. Therefore, this blog post will attempt to shed some light on this increasingly prominent aspect of evidence-based healthcare.

Misconceptions of a Guideline

First of all, there are many misconceptions surrounding guidelines so let’s begin by dispelling the myths:

1. The purpose of guidelines is just to dictate the clinical management of diseases

While guidelines are used by healthcare professionals as a way to inform them about how to care for patients with specific conditions, guidelines cover a much greater scope. In healthcare, the term ‘guideline’ encompasses recommendations on everything from clinical practice and the governance and prescription of medications, to public health interventions and social care services and provisions. [3]

2. Guidelines are developed for and used solely by healthcare practitioners

This is perhaps the commonest misconception regarding guidelines and, in actual fact, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Given that guidelines exist for a vast array of topics, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that guidelines are developed for and used by local authorities, schools, national organisations and even patients and their families to name but a few. All the more so, many guideline publications, such as those developed by NICE, are intended to be jargon-free to encourage use by laypeople – particularly patients – to inform their decisions.

3. Guidelines are a set of rules

It is important to understand that guidelines are not designed to be used like a cookbook. One formula does not work for everybody. Hence, in some circumstances, the purpose guidelines aim to serve is to make adaptable recommendations.

So what exactly is a Guideline?

Now that we have established what a guideline is not, let’s consider what a guideline is.

The Merriam Webster dictionary definition for the word is “an indication or outline of policy or conduct”. [2] In healthcare, the term describes a set of systematically developed statements that aim to fulfil various objectives. [1]

Primarily, they provide users quick access to concise chunks of relevant evidence. Just think of the sheer volume of research conducted every year. It is simply unrealistic to expect healthcare practitioners to sift through every study, judge its value and decide whether it should be applied in patient care. Hence, guidelines aid healthcare professionals and patients in the decision-making processes involved at various stages in care. Moreover, they can help to protect against needless, ineffective and/or unusual interventions. Overall, the objective is to improve the consistency and outcomes of care. [4]

As a result, guidelines are an invaluable part of healthcare. However, not all guidelines are created equal! The value of a guideline depends on the quality of the evidence on which it is based, its relevance and applicability to clinical practice, and its consideration of patient preferences. In other words, the best guidelines are developed through a rigorous evidence-based approach.

As the incorporation of guidelines into everyday practice becomes commonplace, it is crucial that all involved in the provision and delivery of healthcare, as well as those on the receiving end of care, understand what guidelines are – and are not. Equally, we must bear in mind that, unless guidelines are critically assessed and used appropriately, instead of benefiting patients, practitioners and healthcare systems, they have the potential to cause them harm.

References

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Subgroup analyses may be misleading

All fair comparisons and outcomes should be reported

Our Second Annual MLK Day of Service

At Earnest, our goal was to engage our second MLK’s Day of Service by accomplishing two activities.

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How Much Money Do People Have?

On average, young professional men and women both have positive net worth. However, it varies greatly by degree and gender.

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