Latchkey kid

A child with keys to their home hanging from their neck

A latchkey kid is a child who returns after school to a house empty of parents. The child's parents are both working. This situation was first seen during the Second World War.^[1] Men where drafted into the armed forces, and many women were working in factories or on the land. Later, as mothers began to work regularly, latchkey children became common again in the 1960s and following years. Libraries also found they had kids arrive for a couple of hours after school.^[2]

Effects on the children of this situation were mixed.^[3]

Related pages[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

↑ A CBC radio program "Discussion Club – topic: How war affects Canadian children" in 1942, Replayed in CBC Broadcast "Rewind" on 2014-10-23
↑ Benne M. 1991. Principles of children's services in public libraries. Chicago: American Library Association.
↑ Belle, Deborah 1999. The after-school lives of children: alone and with others while parents work. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 0-8058-2325-5

[1] A CBC radio program "Discussion Club – topic: How war affects Canadian children" in 1942, Replayed in CBC Broadcast "Rewind" on 2014-10-23

[2] Benne M. 1991. Principles of children's services in public libraries. Chicago: American Library Association.

[3] Belle, Deborah 1999. The after-school lives of children: alone and with others while parents work. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 0-8058-2325-5

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