Disruptions to child care and work arrangements for low-income households: An examination of racial/ethnic differences in disruptions

• In Event: Families’ Work-childcare Coordination in the Context of Low-wage Work, Precarious Schedules and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Child care can serve as a critical support for working families, allowing parents to pursue employment opportunities. Yet, research consistently shows that many parents encounter challenges coordinating their employment activities and child care schedules, particularly in the context of low-wage work (Henly & Lambert, 2005; Sandstrom & Chaudry, 2012; Speirs, Vesely, & Roy, 2015). Low-income workers often have little autonomy or control over their work schedule (e.g., short notice of work schedule), (Perez & Gould-Werth, 2019; Swanberg, Watson & Eastman, 2014), which often means they need child care options that are reliable and flexible. Conversely, unstable or inflexible child care can have significant consequences for low-income parents’ employment given their jobs tend to be less accommodating when unpredictable care challenges arise (e.g., providers are unavailable due to illness or vacation; children are ill and cannot attend their regular arrangement). This study examines the prevalence of child care-work disruptions and its consequences for parents’ work among low-income households using data from the 2012 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE).
Using data from the 2012 NSECE, we analyze low-income households, defined as having an annual income below 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold, with children under 13 who report using child care for any child in the home, and have at least one caregiver who was employed (N=4,813 households). Descriptive analyses were used to compare various types of disruptions with child-care and associated consequences for work compared Hispanic households with young children, separately by household nativity status, and non-Hispanic white and Black households. Parents responded to specific disruptions to their child care and work arrangement over a 3-month period, the frequency and reason of the disruption and any financial consequences of the disruption.
We found that over one quarter of low-income households reported that the coordination between child care and work broke down in the last 3 months. Over a three-month period, of those reporting disruptions just under half of households (47-57% across racial/ethnic groups) reported experience a disruption for 5 days or more, the equivalent of disruptions occurring for one work week or more. Between 14 and 21 percent of low-income households experienced 10 or more days of disruptions, or over 2 work weeks, during a three-month period. Among those households that reported missing a day of work (between 5-8 percent for provider reasons and 13-26 percent for other reasons) or arriving late or leaving early from work (between 13-18%), the majority of households lost pay as a result. Disruptions vary across racial/ethnic groups; low-income white households reported experiencing the most total disruptions (38 percent compared to 26-30 percent for other racial/ethnic groups) while across types of disruptions, low-income immigrant Hispanic households were least likely to report experiencing disruptions. Adults in low-income immigrant Hispanic households were significant less likely to report missing work, make a special arrangement for care or work from home in the last month than their nonimmigrant Hispanic and white counterparts. Findings highlight the fragility of child care and work arrangements for many low-income families.

Authors

• Kevin Ferreira van Leer, University of Connecticut
  Presenting Author

• Julia Mendez, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author

• Danielle A Crosby, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author