Heard me dad use the expression Latchkey Kid what is a latchkey kid?
It a term for a school aged kid who comes home to an empty house (parents are still at work). History: The term refers to the latchkey of a door to a house. The key is often strung around the child’s neck or left hidden under a mat (or some other object) at the rear door to the property. The term is claimed to have originated from an NBC documentary in 1944, due to the phenomenon of children being left home alone becoming common during and after World War II, when one parent would be enlisted into the armed forces, so the other would get a job.
During the ’50’s and ’60’s most women did not have careers outside of the home. They were housewives and were expected to be home when the children came home everyday from school. During the cultural changes of the late ’60’s (African-American rights, Native-American rights, women’s rights, and all the rest), women started questioning why they weren’t “allowed” to have business or political careers. Nursing or teaching was fine, but that was it. As women began to enter the work force in more numbers than ever, many of them were no longer able to be home when the children came home from school. The kids would have a key to the house, sometimes strung on a string around their neck, and let themselves into the house. This was greatly frowned upon at first, but as time went on it became a necessity because both parents had to work (or liked to work) to maintain financial stability. Now, latchkey kids are more common than ever. Unless the kids are troublesome or harmed in any way by it, it
