Caring for Children - Factors That Affect Child Care

Preschool Child Care

RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES. In 2001 African-American and Hispanic mothers of preschoolers relied more heavily on relatives to provide child care than did white mothers. Of those children in nonparental care, 34% of African-American preschoolers and 23% of Hispanic preschoolers were cared for by relatives, compared with 20% of white preschoolers. (See Table 3.5.) Both white (54%) and African-American preschoolers (55%) were more likely to be cared for by nonrelatives or in center-based programs than were Hispanic preschoolers (32%).

POVERTY MAKES A DIFFERENCE. In 2002 72.8% of preschoolers with employed mothers were regularly in nonparental care, but the type of care varied according to the income levels of those families. Jeffrey Capizzano and Gina Adams found in "Snapshots of America's Families III: Children in Low-Income Families Are Less Likely to Be in Center-Based Child Care" (Urban Institute, No. 16, November 2003) that preschoolers from lower-income families (families with an income less than 200% of the poverty line) were less likely to be in center-based care (24.9%) than children from higher-income families (31.2%). (See Table 3.6.) The authors suggest the lower percentage of lower-income children in center care reflects the lower cost of home-based care. At the same

TABLE 3.3

time, they argue that there is evidence that quality, center-based care plays a big role in helping preschoolers make a successful transition to school, and that low-income children are in large part missing this opportunity. The Children's Defense Fund also stressed the importance of providing low-income families with child care assistance to help their children succeed ("Good Child Care Assistance Policies Help Low-Income Working Families Afford Quality Care and Help Children Succeed," in Key Facts: Essential Information about Child Care, Early Education and School-Age Care, Children's Defense Fund, 2003).

REGIONAL DIFFERENCES. Using data from the 1997 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF), the Urban Institute calculated the number of hours that preschool children spend in institutional care by state (The Hours That Children under Five Spend in Child Care: Variation across States, Jeffery Capizzano and Gina Adams, http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/series_b/b8/b8.html [accessed July 9, 2004]). Nationwide, 41% of preschool children with employed mothers were in institutional care for thirty-five or more hours per week and another 25% were in care fifteen to thirty-four hours per week. The percentages vary widely by state. Alabama and Mississippi had the highest percentages of children in full-time care (59% and 56%, respectively). Texas also ranked high, at 46%. On the other hand, California, Massachusetts, and Washington had the lowest percentages of children in full-time care, with fewer than one in three children in care for thirty-five hours or more per week (29%, 29%, and 33%, respectively). California and Washington had the highest proportions of children who spent no time in child care (30% and 26%, respectively).

TABLE 3.4