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Introduction: The National Study of Child Care for Low-Income Families
The National Study of Child Care for Low-Income Families was a ten-year research effort that was designed to provide policy-makers with information on the effects of Federal, state and local policies and programs on child care at the community level, and the employment and child care decisions of low-income families.1 It also provides insights into the characteristics and functioning of family child care, a type of care frequently used by low-income families, and the experiences of parents and their children with this form of care.2 Abt Associates Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University’s Joseph Mailman School of Public Health in New York City conducted the study under contract to the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The study was initiated in the wake of sweeping welfare reform legislation enacted in 1996. The first component of the study examined how states and communities implemented policies and programs to meet the child care needs of families moving from welfare to work, as well as those of other low-income parents. A second study component investigated the factors that shaped the child care decisions of low-income families and the role that child care subsidies played in those decisions. Finally, the study examined, in depth and over a period of 2½ years, a group of families that used various kinds of family child care and their child care providers, to develop a better understanding of the family child care environment and the extent to which the care provided in that environment supported parents’ work-related needs and met children’s needs for a safe, healthy and nurturing environment.
To address these objectives, study staff gathered information from 17 states about the administration of child care and welfare policies and programs, and about resource allocations. Within the 17 states, the study gathered information from agency staff and other key informants in 25 communities about the implementation of state and local policies and the influence of those policies and practices on the local child care market and on low-income families. Information on states was collected three times: in 1999, 2001 and in 2002, and on communities four times over the same period to allow us to investigate change over time in policies and practices.
From individual families in these communities, we gathered information on how state and local policies and programs, as well as other factors, influenced parents’ decisions about child care, the stability and continuity of child care, the child care choices they made, and how these choices affected their ability to find and retain a job or participate in educational or training programs. A one-time survey of low-income parents in 25 communities provided this information.
In addition, we collected more detailed information on low-income families that used family child care, their providers and the experience of children in family child care. This in-depth examination of family child care was conducted in five of the 25 study sites and involved multiple data collection efforts over a 2½ year period, to allow us to track changes in parental employment, subsidy status and the child care arrangements over time of one child in the family, chosen at random once the family met our criteria for eligibility to participate in the study. This third component of the study is the focus of this report. An earlier report on this component is available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/cc/nsc_low_income/index.html. The instruments used for the study may also be found at this same site.
Contents of this Report
This report presents findings from the In-Depth Study of Family Child Care, one of three components of the National Study of Child Care for Low-Income Families. Chapter One describes the policy context for the In-Depth Study. Chapter Two provides an overview of the study, including the research questions addressed by the study, its design, data collection methods and schedule. Chapter Three describes the family child care providers who participated in the study, including their educational background and experience, their motivation for providing care, their income from care and the kinds of stresses they experience related to their caregiving role. Chapter Four describes the family child care home, including the number and ages of children present in the home, the number of adults present, the care schedule and arrangements, and aspects of the physical environment. Chapter Five describes the families that participated in the study, including information about the focus child for the study, and details of parental employment. Chapter Six describes how parents choose and pay for child care. Chapter Seven looks at how parents balance the demands of work and child care. Chapter Eight compares parent and provider views of their relationship. Chapter Nine describes the interactions between family child care providers and children in the home. Chapter Ten looks at the family child care experience from the childrens’ perspective, describing the activities and experiences of children in the family child care home. The final chapter, Chapter Eleven, looks at stability and change in children’s experiences in care. The report concludes with a discussion of key findings.
1 In this study, low-income families are those whose annual incomes make them eligible to receive subsidies under the guidelines used by the state in which they reside. (back)
2 In this study, family child care is defined as care by an adult other than a parent, related to the child or unrelated, in that adult’s own home and outside the child’s own home. (back)
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