Are State Child Care Subsidy Policies Associated with Preschool Participation for Children of Immigrants?

• In Event: 2-102 - Equal Access to Early Care and Education for All? A Look at Diverse Child Populations

Integrative Statement

Children cared for by immigrant parents are less likely to participate in center-based early care and education (ECE) compared with children of native-born parents. Prior research suggests that children of immigrants are more likely to come from low-income families and the high cost of center-based care limits their access of to ECE (e.g., Greenburg & Kahn, 2011). Child care subsidies funded by the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) are intended to improve access to center-based ECE by reducing the cost of care. However, immigrants might use subsidies at low rates due to their immigration status. Because states have flexibility in setting their CCDF policies under the federal guidelines, different eligibility and requirements across states might affect center-based ECE participation for children of immigrants. This study examines the associations between subsidy generosity and the ease of application process under state CCDF policies and center-based ECE participation.

Data are drawn from the American Community Survey and the CCDF Policies Database from 2009 to 2016. The sample consists of children ages 3-5 years from low-income families (income at or below 200% of federal poverty line, [FPL]). Generosity is measured by initial income eligibility threshold, the difference between continuing and initial income eligibility thresholds, family copayment rate, and center-based provider reimbursement rate. The ease of application process is measured by whether states require verification of the applicant’s identification and verification of the child’s citizenship/immigration status, and the length of redetermination period. I use fixed-effects logistic regression to estimate the associations between changes in center-based ECE participation and state CCDF policies over time within states, accounting for child and family characteristics and state spending related to center-based ECE participation. I also examine whether CCDF policies have differential effects on center-based ECE participation for children of immigrants.

Overall, children of immigrants participated in center-based ECE at lower rates than children of native-born parents (Table 1), but the gap is driven by 3-year-olds. Additionally, children of immigrants were more likely to participate in publicly-funded programs which do not require child care subsidies. Preliminary results (Table 2) show that none of the selected CCDF policies was associated with center-based ECE participation, and children of immigrants were more likely to participate in center-based ECE than their counterparts after accounting for children and families’ characteristics. Moreover, comparing with children of native-born parents, state CCDF policies that had higher initial income eligibility threshold, did not require verification of the child’s citizenship/immigration status, and re-certified the eligibility every 12 months versus every 6 months had larger and positive effects on center-based ECE participation for children of immigrants. As states make different choices in setting multiple rules simultaneously with their limited funding, additional analyses will consider other measures of state generosity and the ease of application that combine different CCDF policies. Other community factors (e.g., racial composition in the community) will also be considered.

Author

• Ying-Chun Lin, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  Presenting Author