Poster #63 - Child Care Decision Making Among Families who Receive Subsidies

• In Event: Poster Session 11

Abstract

Introduction
Child care decision making is a complex process that involves the balance of family needs, resources, and constraints (Moran, 2021). A small body of research has examined factors that influence child care choices among families with low incomes (Carlin et al., 2019). Less work has considered whether low-income families who receive subsidies to help pay for child care have distinct priorities when making child care decisions (Watts, 2017). Subsidies can expand access to high-quality early learning opportunities (Ryan et al., 2011). Yet, there are many reasons families might seek out new child care arrangements (Pilarz et al., 2022). Thus, we investigate whether there are differences in reasons, priorities, and results of child care searches between low-income families who receive subsidies and low-income families who do not receive subsidies. Further, given that children from minoritized backgrounds are more vulnerable to child care disruptions and more likely to live in child care deserts (Bratsch-Hines et al. 2015; Malik et al., 2018), we examine whether these facets of childcare decision making vary by race/ethnicity.

Method
Data came from the 2019 National Study of Early Care and Education (NSECE Project Team, 2021), a survey administered to 8,576 households with children under 13. We restricted the sample to 2,660 households with incomes less than 200% of the poverty level and who completed a child care search for a child under 5 in the last two years. The primary independent variable indicated whether households received a child care subsidy in the past 12 months. We created four dummy variables to categorize the top reason a household was searching for care: 1) essential (e.g., changes to work schedules, provider no longer offering care), 2) preferred (e.g., respondent wanted some relief, to fill gaps from primary provider), 3) ideal (e.g., looking for specific extracurricular activities), and 4) other (e.g., health problems). Respondents also ranked five factors in their search for care from “Very Important” (1) to “Not Important” (3). Three variables averaging the importance assigned to learning (educational opportunities, socializing experiences), logistics (affordability, flexibility) and the environment (nurturing interactions) were created to represent each household’s priorities. The final dependent variable indicated whether the result of the search was a success (i.e., secured care). A household composite was used to create four dummy variables identifying families as Hispanic/Latino, Black, Multi-Racial, or Other race/ethnicities than White to include as moderators.

Results
Table 1 presents weighted descriptive statistics. Table 2 presents results from logistic and linear regression models with subsidy receipt predicting reasons, priorities, and results of child care searches, controlling for covariates. Families with subsidies were more likely to search for child care for reasons deemed essential relative to families without subsidies. However, subsidy receipt was negatively associated with prioritizing a nurturing environment. Families with subsidies were also more likely to secure a new care arrangement as a result of their search compared to families without subsidies. Results from moderation analyses were largely non-significant, suggesting families who receive subsidies approach child care decision making similarly regardless of their race/ethnicity.

Authors

• Jennifer Kristine Finders, Purdue University, West Lafayette
  Presenting Author

• Guadalupe Diaz Lara, California State University - Fullerton

• Megan Elizabeth Pratt, Oregon State University - Corvallis

• Inga Nordgren, Purdue University, West Lafayette

• Wendy Ochoa, San Diego State University