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Conclusions
Family child care met the needs of working parents
Most of the parents in the study were employed single mothers, only a minority of whom worked what are considered "regular hours". In addition, their employment was not stable; the majority had been unemployed at some point in the twelve months preceding the interview. It is not surprising, then, that these mothers chose family child care, in many instances by a relative, for their children. Few centers could accommodate the off-hours and irregular schedules of these parents, and few would be willing to hold a child care slot open for a child during a period when the mother was unemployed. Family child care homes provided year-round care, for an average of 13 hours a day, so that parents rarely had to make alternative arrangements. About half the homes provided care for children of all ages – from infants to school-age children--a great help for parents trying to arrange care for more than one child.
In a variety of other ways, family child care providers supported parental employment. Many, especially relatives, were willing to care for a child with a fever or rash. Providers were willing to accommodate changes in schedule or delays in picking up children, without penalizing parents, providing flexibility that parents could not find in their jobs. For many parents, the relationship with the provider was a close, personal one – they saw each other socially, and providers offered help with problems other than child care. For the most part, employers were not seen as providing information, assistance or support for parents' child care or family needs.
The safety of the home, practical considerations, and the parent's relationship with and trust in the provider were the most compelling considerations in the choice of care arrangement.
The cost of care, the provider's willingness to accept a subsidy, the convenience of the location, the provider's ability to accommodate the parent's work schedule, were all important considerations from the parent's perspective. For the child, parents wanted a safe, home-like environment and a caregiver they trusted who was warm and responsive to the child. The overwhelming majority of parents did not choose an arrangement because it would, in some way, enhance their child's development, or school readiness – that was not their perception of the caregiver's role.
Most parents considered more than one possible child care arrangement.
It is sometimes assumed that parents who choose family child care, especially care by relatives or friends, do so because they are unaware of other options. The parents in the study demonstrated some understanding of the child care options available in their community; at least for children the same ages as their own. A majority felt that they themselves had at least one alternative to the arrangement they chose. Of the one-third that felt they had no other option, a small fraction would have preferred a different arrangement. Advice from friends and relatives strongly influenced parents' choice of care arrangement.
Children in family child care homes experienced stability in their child care arrangements.
Family child care, especially informal care, is often seen as unstable. Evidence to support this view is the turnover in licensed family child care providers; about one-third of licensed providers stop providing care each year.1 However, providers in this study had been providing care for an average of seven years. Many children in the study experienced stability in their care arrangements; by the end of the study, more than half had experienced only one or two arrangements since birth. Multiple concurrent arrangements were more common as the children grew older over the course of the study; by the end of the study almost half were in three or more concurrent arrangements.
Family child care homes were comfortable and safe for children, and met many of their developmental needs.
The homes in the study provided safe and comfortable environments for children. Children were provided space, materials and ample opportunities for both indoor and outdoor play. Family child care providers supervised children closely, were involved in their activities and were warm and responsive to the children's needs. There was little stress or conflict in the homes, either between children and adults or children themselves, and little evidence of distress or anti-social behavior by children. While the homes were generally safe, a majority of homes presented at least one of ten important safety hazards. Over half of the homes had electrical outlets that were not safely covered, a hazard that could be quickly and cheaply remedied.
Learning activities and opportunities, both formal and informal, were scarce in most of the homes.
As we noted above, parents did not choose these providers primarily for their ability to teach children things that would help them in school, nor did providers see this as their role. Only a fraction of children's activities involved reading or being read to, math, science or nature activities. While providers spent a good deal of time talking to children, little of their conversation involved providing information, teaching or eliciting a response from a child beyond a simple "yes" or "no". Television was ubiquitous; in many homes it was rarely turned off and at least one child was watching it during most observations.
Children who switched to center care over the course of the study experienced a more stimulating environment and had more learning opportunities than their peers who remained in family child care.
Although family child care providers were more engaged with children as they grew older, there were significant differences between family child care homes and the centers to which some children switched on almost every aspect of care, including many that seem intuitively to be more likely in family child care. Teachers in centers spent more time actively engaged in children's activities, talked to them more and had significantly more high-level contact with them.
1 There is some evidence that much of this "churning" occurs during the first year of the family child care home's operation (back)
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