Envisaged Start of Using Institutional Early Childcare: Does Parents' Perception of Their Child Matter?

• In Event: 64.086 - MTCC Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: 64.086-6 - Access to Childcare

Abstract

Although there are studies on the use of childcare, most German research has focused on the role of socio-economic factors such as parents’ level of education. Little is known about the role of child characteristics such as health or temperament. Using longitudinal data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS, N = 2630), this study investigated the impact of child characteristics on when parents envisage using childcare. Results showed small direct effects of child characteristics and interaction effects of child characteristics and parental beliefs. Parents whose children had a difficult temperament envisaged an early entry in childcare, expecting that attendance would benefit their child’s development.

Author

• Lars Burghardt, Otto Friedrich University Bamberg