ABSTRACT
W hen, in the mid-1970s, women from the poor neighborhoods of Sao Paulo started to fight for day-care centers for their children, they were bringing about a deep change in the predominant, traditional vision of child care in Brazil. For the first time, public child care emerged as a popular demand, and was regarded both as a right all women and children were entitled to, and as a service the govern ment had to provide its citizens.
