Although child caregivers make a major contribution to children's development and to the health and well-being of their communities, they remain underpaid and undervalued. Written for entry-level and experienced child care teachers and providers, this book presents information on the child care occupation and includes tools to help teachers and caregivers make their jobs better. Chapter 1, "Working in Child Care Today," presents a brief history of the field, provides an overview of current conditions, profiles child care in four developed nations, and examines connections between home- and center-based caregivers. Chapter 2, "Working Relationships in Child Care Programs," presents procedures for assessing the work climate, discusses working relationships with parents, describes ways to show respect for diversity in child care settings, discusses shared decision making, and contains questions for parents to ask about family or center-based child caregivers. Chapter 3, "Your Child Care Work Environment," describes high quality work environments, details model work standards, describes ways to improve the work environment, and discusses employment rights. This chapter also presents information on school-age care and discusses links between child care quality and the adult work environment. Chapter 4, "Leadership and Professional Growth: In Your Workplace and Beyond," provides activities to develop skills as a leader and an advocate and provides information on advocacy organizations for child care teachers and providers. Included in each chapter are group and individual activities to apply the material to individual caregivers or programs. Two appendices present model work standards for family- and center-based child care programs, and discuss the legal impact of antitrust laws. Each chapter contains references. (KB)