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In the Care of Others: Is Child Care Negatively Linked to Maternal Affection and Play?

Sun, August 11, 8:30 to 10:10am, Sheraton New York, Floor: Lower Level, Sutton Place

Abstract

Over 60 percent of American children are in regular care of others, yet, little is known about the effect of child care on maternal-child interaction. This research uses Wave 1 of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and multinomial logistic regression to estimate the effects of regular child care and other factors on measures of maternal affection and play. To account for selectivity in child care, each model was estimated with and without propensity score weights in order to determine the sensitivity of the results to the selection process. Results suggest that child care is positively associated with maternal affection and regular visits to family members and is negatively linked to play (i.e. reading a book, playing inside, telling a story, singing songs and playing peekaboo). This suggests possible benefits and burdens that time away from children creates for both mother and child.

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