Social Disparities in the Decision for Center-Based Care in Early Childhood

• In Event: Effects of Social Disparities on Early Child Development: Results Based on European Birth Cohort Studies

Abstract

Parental choices of the type and timing of early childcare shape children’s exposure to certain learning environments, their opportunities for development and subsequent educational career. A full body of research has shown that the choice for and the timing of entry into early childhood education is socially selective (Binder, 1995; Kreyenfeld & Krapf, 2013). Thus, children from higher social strata are more likely to attend center-based care (Becker & Schober, 2017; Early & Burchinal, 2001; Krapf & Kreyenfeld, 2010; Schober & Spiess, 2013; Waldfogel, 2006), whereas children from disadvantaged backgrounds are cared for far more often in informal arrangements (e.g. by their grandparents) (Early & Burchinal, 2001; Kreyenfeld & Krapf, 2013). Explanations for these findings usually draw on Rational Choice Theory (RCT) (Becker, 1965; Breen & Goldthorpe, 1997). RCT assumes that parents from different social strata perceive systematic differences in the level of benefits (child social and cognitive development; maternal employment) of early childhood education and care (ECEC) and that e.g. families from higher social strata do use early center-based care more often because of higher opportunity costs and higher educational aspirations. One shortcoming of previous research is that these theoretical assumptions on expected benefits of ECEC can only be tested indirectly. Concentrating on a West German sample, this paper disentangles the effects of expected benefits (child development and maternal employment) of ECEC on the transition into center-based care by maternal education for children under the age of three.
Using life course data of the infant cohort of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), methods of discrete-time event history analysis are applied (Allison, 1982). Utilizing information on maternal education at birth of the child, three subsamples are distinguished: (1) low (n=124), (2) medium (n=697), and (3) high (n=675) maternal education. Children, who did not enter center-based care by the age of three, are right-censored and mothers with migration background are excluded from the analysis.
The empirical results show varying effects of expected benefits by educational background on children’s entry into early education. If women from advantaged background expect that the development of their child will profit from center-based care, they tend to send their children more often and earlier into center-based care. Increased maternal employment opportunities through center-based care do not play a role for women with a high educational attainment level. In contrast, women from disadvantaged background emphasize the reconciliation of work and family that formal arrangements allow for. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the context- and time-dependent effects at representative values for the expected benefits differ greatly in size by educational background.
In sum, different social strata perceive the benefits of ECEC systematically different. Contrary to our theoretical assumptions, it is not about different levels of expected benefits but rather about the emphasis of one or the other benefit. Thus, children from lower strata might not profit as much as expected from ECEC policy measures that foster child development, because these parents do not send their children into center-based care just for developmental reasons.

Author

• Gwendolin J. Blossfeld, University of Bamberg