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Appendix C: Comparison of Full and Restricted NSAF Samples

The generalizability of the results in this report to the national population of low-income families using non-parental child care depends on the extent to which such families living in communities with relatively high rates of child poverty are similar to all such families. To address this question, we conducted a supplementary analysis of the National Survey of American Families (NSAF), which collected data on some of the same topics. With the assistance of staff at the Urban Institute, we identified NSAF sample members living in counties with rates of child poverty above 13.8 percent (the “restricted” sample).42 We then performed a number of tabulations on both the full and restricted samples, the results of which are reported below. The respective sample sizes are 3,918 and 2,820.

The results from the NSAF restricted sample have been alluded to in Chapters 3 and 4. In some cases they differ substantively from those of the community sample. For example, our survey found a much greater difference between Black and Hispanic families in their relative preference for center care versus family child care. The purpose of this appendix, however, is simply to compare the full and restricted samples within the NSAF. We suggest that, to the extent that the sample restriction makes little difference in the NSAF, we can infer that it made little difference in our survey; that is, that we would have very similar results if we had included all low-income families in our sample frame.

The exhibits in this appendix show that restricting the sample makes no practical difference in the measures of either background characteristics or outcomes. The biggest difference, four percentage points, is seen with respect to race/ethnicity: unsurprisingly, among low-income families, Blacks are relatively more likely and Whites less likely to live in higher-child-poverty counties.43 Also, current subsidy recipients are a little more common in the restricted sample (17%) than in the full sample (15%).

The marginals of the remaining tables are nearly identical in the restricted and unrestricted sample. For 2-way tables, sizeable differences are occasionally seen in columns that are based on small samples—e.g., the primary mode of care for families whose race/ethnicity is "other" in the full NSAF sample is 16 percent for a non-relative in the non-relative's home, and 8 percent for a non-relative in the child’s home; in the restricted sample, the primary mode is 10 percent in each of these categories. But for the major columns of the table (Black, White, Hispanic) the distributions are quite similar. Certainly the qualitative results are unaltered.

This analysis strongly supports the notion that restricting our analysis to children in higher-child-poverty counties did not markedly affect our results.

Exhibit C.1

Household Type

	Full Sample (% of families)	Restricted Sample (% of families)
Couple	48.6	47.2
Mother and other adults	14.8	15.5
Single mother	36.6	37.3

Note: This table corresponds to Exhibit 3.1.

Exhibit C.2

Number of Children in Household

	Full Sample (% of families)	Restricted Sample (% of families)
One	19.8	20.0
Two	36.6	37.8
Three	26.9	25.5
Four or more	16.7	16.7

Note: This table corresponds to Exhibit 3.2.

Exhibit C.3

Family Ethnicity

	Full Sample (% of families)	Restricted Sample (% of families)
Non-Hispanic White	46.8	43.0
Non-Hispanic Black	28.5	32.1
Hispanic	20.4	21.1
Other/Multiple	4.3	3.8

Note: This table corresponds to Exhibit 3.4.

Exhibit C.4

Immigrant Status of Family

	Full Sample (% of families)	Restricted Sample (% of families)
Born in US	86.1	85.9
Naturalized Citizen	4.7	4.6
Non-US Citizen	9.2	9.5

Note: This table corresponds to Exhibit 3.5.

Exhibit C.5

Primary Mode of Non-Parental Child Care

Mode of Care	Full Sample (% of families)	Restricted Sample (% of families)
Center care	28.2	28.8
Care by a relative in the child's own home	30.4	29.6
Care by a relative in relative's home 1	23.0	24.6
Family child care 2	13.0	12.1
Care by an unrelated adult in child’s own home	5.4	4.9

Note: This table corresponds to Exhibit 4.1. According to the NSAF: 1 Care by a relative not in child’s home. 2 Care by an unrelated adult not in child’s own home.

Exhibit C.6

Primary Mode of Non-Parental Child Care by Age of Child

Full Sample Mode of Care Age of Child Under One Year (%) Age 1-2 (%) Age 3-4 (%) Age 5-12 (%) All Ages (%) Center care 6.7 31.9 50.4 23.3 28.2 Care by a relative in the child's own home 37.6 20.9 11.5 37.0 30.4 Care by a relative in relative's home1 36.6 25.5 21.5 21.6 23.0 Family child care2 17.8 17.6 13.7 11.3 13.0 Care by an unrelated adult in child’s own home 1.4 4.2 2.9 6.7 5.4 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Restricted Sample Mode of Care Age of Child Under One Year (%) Age 1-2 (%) Age 3-4 (%) Age 5-12 (%) All Ages (%) Center care 7.6 31.8 51.4 24.0 28.8 Care by a relative in the child’s own home 35.6 19.3 10.3 36.7 29.6 Care by a relative in relative’s home1 35.2 28.5 22.3 23.3 24.6 Family child care2 20.5 15.9 12.8 10.2 12.1 Care by an unrelated adult in child’s own home 1.2 4.4 3.3 5.7 4.9 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Note: This table corresponds to Exhibit 4.2. According to the NSAF: 1 Care by a relative not in child’s home. 2 Care by an unrelated adult not in child’s own home.

Exhibit C.7

Primary Mode of Non-Parental Child Care by Ethnicity

Full Sample Mode of Care Family Ethnicity White (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) All (%) Center care 25.0 32.5 28.5 28.2 Care by a relative in the child’s own home 26.8 31.5 38.2 30.4 Care by a relative in relative’s home1 26.1 21.8 18.6 23.0 Family child care2 16.8 8.4 10.0 13.0 Care by an unrelated adult in child’s own home 5.2 5.8 4.8 5.4 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Restricted Sample Mode of Care Family Ethnicity White (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) All (%) Center care 25.9 32.7 27.6 28.8 Care by a relative in the child’s own home 24.7 31.4 37.3 29.6 Care by a relative in relative’s home1 29.4 22.0 20.2 24.6 Family child care2 16.3 8.5 9.3 12.1 Care by an unrelated adult in child’s own home 3.7 5.4 5.6 4.9 Total 100.00 100.0 100.0 100.0

Note: This table corresponds to Exhibit 4.3. According to the NSAF: 1 Care by a relative not in child’s home. 2 Care by an unrelated adult not in child’s own home.

Exhibit C.8

Number and Type of Non-Parental Child Care Arrangements, by Age of Child

Full Sample   Age of Child Under One Year (%) Age 1-2 (%) Age 3-4 (%) Age 5-12 (%) Total Number of arrangements 1 73.0 75.5 58.6 75.8 72.8 2 26.4 20.9 35.6 21.4 23.9 3 0.6 3.7 5.7 2.8 3.3 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Any of child's arrangements is: Center care 7.1 32.9 58.4 32.5 35.5 Care by a relative in the child’s own home 50.6 30.7 29.2 43.1 39.4 Care by a relative in relative’s home1 46.4 35.1 35.2 27.0 30.6 Family child care2 19.0 19.5 17.1 14.3 15.8 Care by an unrelated adult in child’s own home 4.4 7.5 7.2 9.6 8.6

Restricted Sample   Age of Child Under One Year (%) Age 1-2 (%) Age 3-4 (%) Age 5-12 (%) Total Number of arrangements 1 75.1 74.3 58.0 76.2 72.8 2 24.6 21.3 35.7 21.3 23.9 3 0.7 4.5 6.3 2.5 3.3 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Any of child's arrangements is: Center care 8.1 33.6 57.9 33.3 36.0 Care by a relative in the child’s own home 45.1 31.2 30.6 42.8 39.2 Care by a relative in relative’s home1 45.7 39.1 36.0 28.8 32.5 Family child care2 21.8 18.5 16.5 12.6 14.6 Care by an unrelated adult in child’s own home 5.0 7.7 7.3 8.5 8.0

Note: This table corresponds to Exhibit 4.4. According to the NSAF 1 Care by a relative not in child’s home. 2 Care by an unrelated adult not in child’s own home.

Exhibit C.9

Total Hours Per Week of Non-Parental Child Care, by Age of Child

Full Sample   Age of Child Under One Year (%) Age 1-2 (%) Age 3-4 (%) Age 5-12 (%) Total (%) Less than 10 29.6 19.2 9.4 34.6 27.9 10 to 20 17.7 8.7 13.6 28.7 22.7 21 to 30 7.6 12.4 16.5 13.0 13.2 Over 30 45.1 59.7 60.4 23.7 36.2 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Restricted Sample   Age of Child Under One Year (%) Age 1-2 (%) Age 3-4 (%) Age 5-12 (%) Total (%) Less than 10 26.5 18.2 7.8 32.8 26.2 10 to 20 16.8 8.7 15.1 30.7 24.1 21 to 30 8.2 11.7 15.0 13.2 13.0 Over 30 48.5 61.2 62.1 23.3 36.8 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Note: This table corresponds to Exhibit 4.5.

Exhibit C.10

Subsidy Status of Families

	Full Sample (% of families)	Restricted Sample (% of families)
Current	15.4	17.0
Former	5.0	5.4
Never applied	56.9	55.6
Did not receive	5.5	5.5
Pending	1.0	1.0
Don't know	16.2	15.6

Note: This table corresponds to Exhibit 4.14.

Exhibit C.11

Subsidy Status, by Mode of Care

Full Sample Mode of Care Family Ethnicity Current Former Never applied Did not receive Pending Don't Know Center care 30.8 5.9 39.4 6.9 1.7 15.3 Care by a relative in the child’s own home 6.1 5.3 70.9 3.6 0.4 14.0 Care by a relative in relative’s home1 9.3 3.1 63.3 6.4 1.2 16.7 Family child care2 17.0 6.1 52.7 5.0 0.5 18.8 Care by an unrelated adult in child’s own home 9.6 5.0 49.3 7.0 1.9 27.3

Restricted Sample Mode of Care Family Ethnicity Current Former Never applied Did not receive Pending Don't Know Center care 32.4 5.9 39.1 6.6 1.8 14.2 Care by a relative in the child’s own home 7.6 6 68.5 2.8 0.2 14.6 Care by a relative in relative’s home1 9.8 2.9 64.6 6.5 0.8 15.4 Family child care2 20.0 6.6 50.0 6.1 0.5 16.8 Care by an unrelated adult in child’s own home 12.6 6.6 41.9 7.9 2.7 28.4

Note: This table corresponds to Exhibit 4.15. According to the NSAF 1 Care by a relative not in child’s home. 2 Care by an unrelated adult not in child’s own home.

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