NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

Statistical Analysis Report June 1998

Characteristics of Children’s

Early Care and Education

Programs: Data from the 1995

National Household Education

Survey

Sandra L. Hofferth

University of Michigan

Kimberlee A. Shauman

University of California at Davis

Robin R. Henke

MPR Associates, Inc.

Jerry West

National Center for Education Statistics

U.S. Department of Education NCES 98-128

Office of Educational Research and Improvement
U.S. Department of Education

Richard W. Riley

Secretary

Office of Educational Research and Improvement

Ricky T. Takai

Acting Assistant Secretary

National Center for Education Statistics

Pascal D. Forgione, Jr.

Commissioner

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data related to education in the United States and other nations. It fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report full and complete statistics on the condition of

education in the United States; conduct and publish reports and specialized analyses of the meaning and

significance of such statistics; assist state and local education agencies in improving their statistical systems; and review and report on education activities in foreign countries.

NCES activities are designed to address high priority education data needs; provide consistent, reliable,

complete, and accurate indicators of education status and trends; and report timely, useful, and high

quality data to the U.S. Department of Education, the Congress, the states, other education policymakers, practitioners, data users, and the general public.

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National Center for Education Statistics

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U.S. Department of Education

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Washington, DC 20208-5574

June 1998

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Suggested Citation

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Characteristics of Children’s

Early Care and Education Programs: Data from the 1995 National Household Education Survey, NCES

98-128, by Sandra L. Hofferth, Kimberlee A. Shauman, Robin R. Henke, and Jerry West. Washington,

D.C.: 1998.

Content Contact:

Jerry West

(202) 219-1574
iii

Acknowledgments

A number of MPR Associates staff members contributed to the production of this report.

Andrea Livingston and Karyn Madden edited the text, tables, and figures. Mary Sukkestad, Don

Eike, and Francesca Tussing formatted the tables and figures and completed the report’s layout,

and Barbara Kridl supervised the overall production. The authors greatly appreciate their work.

In addition, the authors are grateful for the thoughtful comments and suggestions provided

by reviewers of the report. At the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the following

staff read and commented on the report: Michael Cohen of the Statistical Standards and Services

Group, Laura Lippman and Jeffrey Owings of the Data Development and Longitudinal Studies

Group, and Mary Rollefson of the Surveys and Cooperative Systems Group. In addition to NCES

staff, Ellen Bradburn of the Education Statistics Support Institute, Sue Bredekamp of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and James Griffin and Donna Hinkle of

the National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education also reviewed this publication. Their suggestions substantially improved the quality of the publication; any errors remaining

are the sole responsibility of the authors.

v

Executive Summary

This report examines the characteristics of the care and education children receive on a

regular basis before they enter school. In doing so, it addresses four questions that have surfaced

with the prevalence of nonparental child care and children’s increased participation in early childhood education programs:

• Were children at greater risk of school failure1 less likely than other children to be in

education programs or nonparental care arrangements that facilitate child development?

• Where did parents get information about their child care arrangements? In particular,

was the cost of child care a good indicator of its quality?

• What were parents’ preferences regarding nonparental child care and early childhood

education programs?

• Were parents’ preferences reflected in the types and characteristics of their children’s

primary nonparental care arrangements or early childhood education programs? Did

parents get what they wanted?

To address these issues, this report focuses on various characteristics of child care arrangements that can be categorized into two groups: those that have been associated with children’s

development, and those that stem from parental concerns other than child development, such as

staying within budgets or maintaining work schedules. Of the former, this study includes the following:

• the amount of time children spend in nonparental care;

• the number of different nonparental arrangements in which a given child is cared for;

• the ratio of children to staff;

• whether the teacher or child care provider was trained in child development;

• whether the care arrangement or education program offered services such as health or

psychological screening;

 

1Children are defined as “educationally disadvantaged” or “at risk” if they have one of several characteristics that have traditionally been associated with school failure or developmental difficulties, such as being from a low-income or single parent

family.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

vi

• whether parent involvement in the program was encouraged; and

• whether the teacher or care provider spoke English to the child most of the time.

Of the latter, child care characteristics that are relevant to parental concerns independent of

child development, this study includes the travel time between the program and home, its cost,

and the availability of sick child care.

The data from which the findings are drawn were collected as part of the 1995 National

Household Education Survey (NHES:95), in which a nationally representative sample of the parents of children who were age 10 or younger and in third grade or below were interviewed. The

survey not only obtained detailed information about children’s nonparental care arrangements and

early childhood education programs, but also gathered information about the parents and children

themselves. The focus of this report is on children who were under age 6 and were not yet enrolled in kindergarten, whom we refer to as preschool children.

WERE CHILDREN AT RISK OF SCHOOL FAILURE LESS LIKELY THAN

OTHER CHILDREN TO BE IN PROGRAMS OR ARRANGEMENTS THAT

FACILITATE CHILD DEVELOPMENT?

In 1995, 59 percent of preschool children were in some type of nonparental arrangements

on a regular basis.2 Twenty-eight percent of preschoolers were in full-time nonparental care (i.e.,

35 or more hours per week). Although infants were less likely than older children to be in nonparental care, among those children in regular nonparental care, younger children spent more hours

per week in such arrangements than did older children. Furthermore, children at greater risk of

school failure spent more time per week in nonparental care, on average, than did other children.

Being cared for in more than one nonparental care arrangement at a time may be detrimental

to infants and very young children, who may require consistent caregiving in order to form the

attachments necessary for later development. The NHES:95 data indicate that infants were rarely

cared for in such arrangements, although the incidence increased with the child’s age. The use of

more than one nonparental care arrangement at a time was more common among children at

greater risk of school failure than among other children.

 

2For simplicity’s sake, from this point, “nonparental care arrangement” or “nonparental arrangement” is used to denote either

nonparental child care or an early childhood education program.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

vii

Family income, a key risk factor, was strongly associated with the type of primary nonparental care children received. Compared with those of children from higher income families, the

primary arrangements of children from low-income families were more likely to be Head Start

programs, family child care, or relative care, rather than other center-based programs. The age of

the child and the employment status of the mother were also associated with the type of primary

child care arrangement. For example, older children were more likely to be in center-based care,

and younger children in informal care arrangements (family child care, relative, or in-home care).

Moreover, children of employed mothers were more likely to be in family child care, in-home

care, or relative care and less likely to be in Head Start as their primary arrangement, than children

of mothers who were not employed. Similarly, among children in multiple nonparental arrangements, informal arrangement combinations were more common among young children, whereas

combinations of formal arrangements were more common among older children.

The characteristics of children’s nonparental care varied with the type of care they received.

Children who spent most of their time in in-home child care or in family child care were cared for

with fewer children than those in other nonparental care arrangements, were more likely to have a

care provider who spoke a language other than English with them, and were more likely to be

cared for by their nonparental care provider when they were sick. Also, children in family child

care were more likely to live within 10 minutes of their primary nonparental care provider than

children cared for by relatives or enrolled in center-based programs. The cost of the primary nonparental care arrangement was highest for children in in-home and non-Head Start center-based

care. Finally, formal center-based programs were more likely than other primary arrangements to

offer trained child care providers and services such as developmental screening and health examinations.

Likewise, the attributes of children’s primary nonparental care varied according to several

family factors, after adjusting for other child and family characteristics and type of primary arrangement. Not surprisingly, children from families with incomes of more than $50,000 were in

more expensive care than children from families with incomes of $15,000 or less. Children of

mothers not in the work force were less likely to be enrolled in primary arrangements that offered

sick child care and were more likely to be enrolled in programs close to their homes than children

of mothers who were working or looking for work. In addition, the primary nonparental care providers of Hispanic children, children of other non-black minority racial–ethnic backgrounds, and

children in predominately non-English-speaking households were much less likely to speak
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

viii

English with them than those of white, non-Hispanic children and children in English-speaking

households, respectively. Child/staff ratios and the training of the care provider were not related

to the characteristics of the parents; however, ratios were related to child age, and ratios and

training were both related to the type of child care arrangement.

Based upon the characteristics measured in this study, children at greater risk of school failure did not receive care or education of lower quality than did other children. Adjusting for other

child and family characteristics and type of primary arrangement, children from low-income families were more likely than those from high-income families to have access to health-related services and sick child care through the primary arrangement. Several other risk factors, such as

having a disability, not speaking English at home, being from a large family, and having a mother

who had not received a high school diploma, were also associated with receiving more services.

Considering the access to health-related services through their primary arrangements alone, children at greater risk of school failure were more likely to receive such services than other children.

With respect to other child care characteristics associated with positive outcomes for children—

the child/staff ratio, whether the care provider or teacher had training in child development,

whether parent involvement was encouraged, and whether the child care provider spoke English

with the child most of the time—there were no consistent differences between children at greater

risk of school failure and other children.

WHERE DID PARENTS GET INFORMATION REGARDING CHILD CARE

ARRANGEMENTS?

More than half of children’s parents reported that friends were their source of information

about their primary nonparental child care arrangements. Parents of older children were more

likely to learn about the arrangement through a school, and employed mothers were more likely to

do so from an employer.

Parents could not judge program characteristics by program cost. For example, they did not

obtain a lower ratio of children to staff or more services when paying more, even after adjusting

for the age of the child and other factors. The only child development-related care characteristic

associated with price was provider training; primary arrangements with trained care providers cost

parents more. Parents also paid more when care was close to home.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ix

WHAT WERE PARENTS’ PREFERENCES REGARDING CHILD CARE

ARRANGEMENTS?

Parents’ preferences for child care characteristics were consistent with child development

experts’ opinions on the characteristics that matter to children’s development. Parents were more

likely to report that having a small number of children and a trained provider were important in

choosing a child care arrangement than to say that cost and convenience were important.

For each of six child care characteristics—the availability of sick child care, the number of

children cared for at the same time, whether care was provided at reasonable cost, whether the

care provider was trained in child development, whether the care provider spoke English with the

child most of the time, and whether the care was close to home—parents were asked whether the

characteristic was very important, somewhat important, or not important in choosing a child care

arrangement. With the sole exception of sick child care, which 49 percent of parents reported was

important, more than half of all parents reported that each of these characteristics was very important in selecting a child care arrangement.

A few child and family characteristics were associated with parents’ preferences. For instance, the age of the child was related to parents’ preferences: whereas parents of young children

were more often concerned about the number of children cared for and whether sick child care

was available, parents of older children were more often concerned about having a trained provider and whether English was spoken. Mothers seeking work were concerned about the cost of

care and availability of sick child care more often than mothers who were already employed.

Families with one or more risk factors were more concerned about the cost of care, convenience,

the availability of sick child care, and provider training, compared with families with no risk factors.

DID PARENTS GET WHAT THEY WANTED?

In general, when parents reported that a characteristic was very important to them, their

children were likely to be in a primary arrangement with that characteristic. There was one exception, however. No association was found between a preference for care of reasonable cost and

being in a less costly arrangement, adjusting for other factors. This may be because what parents

think is “reasonable” cost varies with household income or because parents are constrained in

their choices. In addition, although children whose parents wanted trained child care providers did

tend to have them, the link between parents’ preference for a small number of children and the
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

x

child/staff ratio in the child’s program was found only when type of arrangement was not controlled.

Children whose primary arrangements were family child care were less likely than those in a

child care center to have care providers who were trained in child development. This is consistent

with the result that children whose parents wanted a trained provider were less likely to be cared

for in family child care or in relative care than in center-based care. In addition, informal arrangements are more likely than center-based care to provide sick child care. Consistent with this, those

children whose parents preferred sick child care were more likely to be placed in family child care

or relative care than in non-Head Start center-based care. Parents do appear to obtain arrangements that fit their preferences.

SOME IMPLICATIONS

Previous studies have found parents to be less concerned about the training of their child’s

care provider than about other aspects of the care setting such as cost and convenience. These

new data suggest that parents recognize the importance of having a trained provider and prefer

their child’s provider be trained in child development. In addition, training is the one quality characteristic for which parents apparently pay more, and it is also the one quality characteristic that is

linked with parents’ choice of arrangement. Since training is viewed by the child development

community as a key component of quality child care, these findings offer promising signals that

parental preferences and child development experts’ recommendations diverge less than believed.
xi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................ iii

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. v

List of Tables........................................................................................................................ xiii

List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... xvi

1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1

Data Source and Limitations............................................................................................. 1

Why Focus on the Characteristics of Child Care Arrangements? ....................................... 3

What Characteristics of Nonparental Care Are of Interest? ............................................... 5

Which Child and Family Characteristics Are of Interest? ................................................... 10

Summary.......................................................................................................................... 11

2. What Were Children’s Experiences With Nonparental Care in 1995? ......................... 13

Hours in Nonparental Care ............................................................................................... 13

Number of Nonparental Care Arrangements ..................................................................... 14

Combinations of Nonparental Care Arrangements............................................................. 16

Type of Primary Nonparental Care Arrangement .............................................................. 18

Attributes of Children’s Primary Nonparental Care Arrangements..................................... 20

Summary.......................................................................................................................... 24

3. What Factors Were Associated With the Types and Characteristics of

the Child Care Arrangements That Parents Chose? .................................................. 27

Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 27

Number of Hours in Nonparental Care.............................................................................. 29

Number of Nonparental Care Arrangements ..................................................................... 34

Type of Primary Nonparental Care Arrangement .............................................................. 36

Attributes of Children’s Primary Nonparental Care Arrangements..................................... 45

Summary.......................................................................................................................... 59

4. What Were Parents’ Sources of Information and Preferences

Regarding Child Care Arrangements?........................................................................ 65

Parents’ Information Regarding Child Care....................................................................... 65

The Importance of Child Care Attributes in Parents’ Child Care Decisions........................ 69

Summary.......................................................................................................................... 73
TABLE OF CONTENTS

xii

Page

5. Were Parents’ Preferences Related to the Attributes of the Child Care

Arrangements They Selected? ..................................................................................... 75

Child/Staff Ratio............................................................................................................... 75

Sick Child Care ................................................................................................................ 77

Proximity to the Provider.................................................................................................. 78

Provider Training ............................................................................................................. 79

Provider Use of English.................................................................................................... 80

Cost of Care..................................................................................................................... 81

6. Were Parents’ Preferences Related to the Types of Arrangements

They Selected?.............................................................................................................. 83

Family Child Care............................................................................................................. 83

Relative Care.................................................................................................................... 85

Summary.......................................................................................................................... 86

7. Summary and Conclusions.............................................................................................. 87

Were Children at Greater Risk of School Failure in Lower Quality

Care?............................................................................................................................ 87

Did Parents Value Quality When Choosing Child Care?.................................................... 88

Are the Child Care Characteristics That Parents Perceive as

Important Adequately Measured in Current Research?.................................................. 88

Can Parents Use Price as an Indicator of Child Care Quality?............................................ 89

References............................................................................................................................. 91

Appendix A: Supplemental Tables...................................................................................... 95

Appendix B: Technical Notes and Methodology ................................................................121
xiii

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1 Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old in parental care only; and of those

in some nonparental care, percentage distribution according to number of hours per

week in nonparental care and average number of hours in nonparental care, by age:

1995........................................................................................................................... 15

2 Of preschool children under 6 years old enrolled in two or more nonparental care

arrangements, percentage distribution according to arrangement combinations,

by age: 1995............................................................................................................... 17

3 Of preschool children in nonparental care, percentage whose primary arrangements

were paid for; average cost per hour, child/staff ratio, and number of services provided

in primary arrangements; and percentage whose primary arrangements had various

characteristics, by type of primary arrangement: 1995 ................................................. 21

4 Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to number

of nonparental care arrangements, by age: 1995 .......................................................... 29

5 Average difference in parental expenditures for children’s primary arrangements,

adjusted for child and family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995 ........ 46

6 Average difference in child/staff ratio of children’s primary arrangements,

adjusted for child and family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995 ........ 50

7 Average difference in the number of services offered by children’s center-based

primary arrangements, adjusted for child and family characteristics and primary

arrangement type: 1995 .............................................................................................. 52

8 Odds ratio that children’s primary arrangements provided sick child care, adjusted

for child and family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995...................... 54

9 Odds ratio of living within 10 minutes of primary arrangement, adjusted for child

and family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995.................................... 56

10 Odds ratio of children’s primary arrangements having trained providers, adjusted

for child and family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995...................... 58
LIST OF TABLES

xiv

Table Page

11 Odds ratio that children’s primary center-based care arrangements encouraged

parent involvement, adjusted for child and family characteristics and primary

arrangement type: 1995 .............................................................................................. 60

12 Odds ratio that provider in children’s primary arrangements spoke English with

the children most of the time, adjusted for child and family characteristics and

primary arrangement type: 1995.................................................................................. 62

13 Of preschool children under 6 years old whose parents reported learning about

their child’s primary arrangement from various sources of information,

by child and family characteristics: 1995...................................................................... 67

14 Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old whose parents reported various

characteristics to be very important in choosing a nonparental care arrangement, by

primary arrangement type, parents’ source of information about arrangements or

programs, and child and family characteristics: 1995 ................................................... 70

A1 Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to number

of hours per week in nonparental care and average hours per week in nonparental

care, by child and family characteristics: 1995 ............................................................. 96

A2 Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to number

of nonparental care arrangements, by child and family characteristics: 1995................. 99

A3 Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to type of

primary nonparental care arrangement, by child and family characteristics: 1995 .........101

A4 For preschool children under 6 years old in some form of regular nonparental care,

coefficients from OLS regression of the number of hours in nonparental care on

child and family characteristics, by age: 1995 ..............................................................104

A5 Adjusted odds ratio of a preschool child under 6 years old being cared for in no

nonparental care arrangement or in two or more nonparental arrangements, by

child and family characteristics: 1995 ..........................................................................106

A6 Adjusted odds ratio of a preschool child under 6 years old having a Head Start

program, family day care, or in-home child care or relative care versus another

center-based program as the primary arrangement, by child and family characteristics:

1995...........................................................................................................................108

A7 Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old whose parents reported

that various child care characteristics were very important in choosing a

nonparental care arrangement, by primary arrangement type, parents’ source of

information about arrangements, and child and family characteristics: 1995.................110
LIST OF TABLES

xv

Table Page

A8 Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old whose parents reported learning

about their children’s primary arrangement from various sources of information,

by primary arrangement type and child and family characteristics: 1995.......................113

A9 Coefficients from OLS regression of cost of primary arrangement on

characteristics of primary arrangement: 1995 ..............................................................116

A10 Coefficients from OLS regressions of cost, child/staff ratio, and number of services

of preschool children’s primary arrangements on parental preferences, and adjusted

odds ratio of children’s primary arrangements having various characteristics, by

parents’ preferences for child care characteristics: 1995 ..............................................117

A11 Adjusted odds ratio of a preschool child under 6 years old having a Head Start

program, family day care, or in-home child care or relative care versus another centerbased program as the primary arrangement, by parental preferences and child and

family characteristics: 1995.........................................................................................118
xvi

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1 Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to

number of hours per week in nonparental care: 1995................................................... 14

2 Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to

the number of nonparental care arrangements, by age of child : 1995 .......................... 16

3 Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according

to type of primary arrangement: 1995 ......................................................................... 18

4 Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old whose primary arrangement

was a center-based program, by age: 1995 .................................................................. 19

5a Adjusted difference in the number of hours preschool children under 6 years

old spent in nonparental care, by mother’s employment status and race–ethnicity:

1995........................................................................................................................... 30

5b Adjusted difference in the number of hours per week preschool children under

6 years old spent in nonparental care, by household structure and mother’s age at

first birth: 1995........................................................................................................... 31

6a Adjusted difference in the number of hours per week infants spent in nonparental

care, by mother’s employment status: 1995................................................................. 32

6b Adjusted difference in the number of hours per week infants spent in nonparental

care, by selected child and family characteristics: 1995................................................ 33

7a Adjusted percent difference in the odds that a preschool child under 6 years old

was cared for in two or more nonparental care arrangements versus one, by child

and family characteristics: 1995 .................................................................................. 34

7b Adjusted percent difference in the odds that a preschool child under 6 years old

was cared for in two or more nonparental care arrangements versus one, by

mother’s employment status: 1995.............................................................................. 35

8a Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool

child under 6 years old was a Head Start program versus another center-based

program, by child and family characteristics: 1995....................................................... 37
LIST OF FIGURES

xvii

Figure Page

8b Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool

child under 6 years old was a Head Start program versus another center-based

program, by child and family characteristics: 1995....................................................... 38

9 Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool

child under 6 years old was family day care versus a non-Head Start center-based

program, by child and family characteristics: 1995....................................................... 39

10a Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool

child under 6 years old was in-home child care versus a non-Head Start centerbased program, by child and family characteristics: 1995............................................. 40

10b Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool

child under 6 years old was in-home child care versus a non-Head Start center

-based program, by household size: 1995.................................................................... 41

11a Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool

child under 6 years old was relative care versus a non-Head Start center-based

program, by child and family characteristics: 1995....................................................... 42

11b Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool

child under 6 years old was relative care versus a non-Head Start center-based

program, by child and family characteristics: 1995....................................................... 43

12 Adjusted difference in expenditures for children’s primary arrangements, by

selected characteristics of the primary arrangement: 1995 ........................................... 68

13 Adjusted difference in child/staff ratio of children’s primary arrangement, for

preschool children under 6 years old whose parents preferred a small number of

children: 1995............................................................................................................. 76

14 Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement provided

sick child care, for preschool children under 6 years old whose parents preferred

having such care: 1995................................................................................................ 77

15 Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement was within

10 minutes from home, for preschool children under 6 years old whose parents

preferred child care close to home: 1995..................................................................... 78

16 Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the care provider in the primary

arrangement had training, for preschool children under 6 years old whose parents

preferred having a trained provider: 1995.................................................................... 79
LIST OF FIGURES

xviii

Figure Page

17 Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the care provider in the primary

arrangement spoke English with the child most of the time, for preschoolers under

6 years old whose parents preferred an English-speaking care provider: 1995.............. 80

18 Adjusted percent difference in the odds that a child’s primary arrangement was

family day care versus a center-based program, for preschool children under 6

years old whose parents preferred having sick child care and a trained care

provider: 1995............................................................................................................ 84

19 Adjusted percent difference in the odds that a child’s primary arrangement was

relative care versus a center-based program, for preschool children under 6

years old whose parents preferred having sick child care and a trained care

provider: 1995............................................................................................................ 85
1

Chapter 1. Introduction

This report examines the characteristics of the care and education children receive on a

regular basis from individuals and organizations before they enter school. The types of arrangements include care and education in formal center-based programs such as child care centers, preschools, and Head Start, as well as informal care by relatives or by nonrelatives either in the

child’s home (in-home child care) or in the provider’s home (family child care).

Each chapter of this report addresses a set of research questions:

• Chapter 2. What were children’s experiences in nonparental care in 1995? More specifically, how many hours per week did children spend in nonparental care? In how

many different arrangements were they cared for? In what types of nonparental care arrangements or early childhood education programs did children participate, and what

were the attributes of these arrangements or programs?

• Chapter 3. What characteristics of parents and children, and in particular, which risk

factors were associated with the hours children spent in care, the number of nonparental

care arrangements, the primary type of arrangement chosen, and the attributes of children’s primary nonparental care arrangements?

• Chapter 4. What were parents’ major sources of information regarding early care and

education options for their children? How were family characteristics linked to the

sources of information they used? Did parents pay more for attributes that were associated with child development or other child and family demands? What were parents’

expressed preferences regarding the attributes of care for their children?

• Chapter 5. How were parental preferences connected to the attributes of their children’s primary nonparental care arrangements?

• Chapter 6. How were parental preferences linked to the types of arrangements that

they selected? Were parents’ preferences reflected in their arrangement choices? Which

preferences were related to the types of care that parents selected, adjusting for their

own and their children’s characteristics?

DATA SOURCE AND LIMITATIONS

In order to address these questions, this report presents analyses of the Early Childhood

Program Participation Component of the 1995 National Household Education Survey

(NHES:95). For more information, see the Technical Notes and Methodology section (appendix
1. INTRODUCTION

2

B). NHES:95 was designed to gather descriptive data in order to learn about educational activities of American families and their children that cannot be studied through school- or institutionbased surveys. Households were sampled using random-digit dialing methods, and interviews

were conducted using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) techniques. The study

collected data between January and April of 1995 on a nationally representative sample of 14,064

children from birth through age 10 and in third grade or below.

The population to which the current study can be generalized is the population of resident

U.S. children from birth through 5 years of age as of January 1, 1995 who were not enrolled in

school. This population includes the approximately 21.4 million children who had not yet entered

kindergarten. This covers the majority of children under age 5, because few children are enrolled

in kindergarten before that age, and about one-third of 5-year-olds, because about two-thirds of

5-year-olds are enrolled in kindergarten. About 7,500 sample children who met the selection criteria were included in the NHES:95.

The NHES:95 instrument collected data on children’s participation in home-based (i.e.,

family child care, in-home care, and relative care) and center-based (i.e., child care centers, preschools, and nursery schools) nonparental care arrangements, as well as the characteristics of

these arrangements. The survey also collected data on a variety of child and family characteristics

that can be used to identify children who are educationally disadvantaged. Therefore, the

NHES:95 is a valuable source of information on these children’s nonparental care arrangements

and participation in early childhood education programs.

The characteristics of children’s nonparental care arrangements were also investigated using

the NHES:95. In this survey, parents were asked to provide information about each of their children’s nonparental care arrangements and education programs. Information was obtained on

group size, number of staff members, whether the teacher or provider was trained in child development, fees paid, travel time between home and child care, parental involvement, services provided, and number of hours in care.3

 As discussed above, the quality of children’s experiences and

their subsequent development is influenced by some of these characteristics (Hayes et al. 1990;

Phillips 1987). Consequently, with these data it is possible to go beyond simply reporting children’s participation in broad categories of arrangements to describing the degree to which children with various characteristics are cared for in arrangements that vary in developmentally

related ways.

 

3Questions concerning the services provided and whether parental involvement was encouraged were asked only of parents

whose children were enrolled in a center-based program.
1. INTRODUCTION

3

Finally, parents’ preferences for child care arrangements and early education programs can

also be investigated using NHES:95. For each of a number of child care characteristics parents

may look for in selecting care arrangements for their children, parents were asked whether each

was very important, somewhat important, or not important in selecting an arrangement or program. These data permit study of the relationships between parents’ child care preferences and the

types of arrangements they make for their children.

One limitation of the present study arises from the nature of the data. Characteristics of

children’s programs were reported by their parents; no information was provided directly by programs. The last national research that collected information from both parents and their children’s

preschool programs was conducted in 1990 (Hofferth, Brayfield, Deich, and Holcomb 1991;

Kisker, Hofferth, Phillips, and Farquhar 1991; Willer et al. 1991). This research found that the

characteristics of programs reported by parents matched those reported by programs, on average.

In particular, parents appear to have reported their expenditures for child care relatively accurately (Willer et al. 1991). However, the accuracy of parents’ reports of other characteristics depends upon how evident those characteristics were to the parents and how familiar they were with

their children’s care arrangements (Helburn et al. 1995). For example, parents’ estimates of group

size were more accurate when their children were in family child care than when they were in

child care centers (Hofferth, West, Henke, and Kaufman 1994).

WHY FOCUS ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILD CARE

ARRANGEMENTS?

As more and more children spend time in settings outside their home (West, Wright, and

Hausken 1995), researchers have focused on the quality of the care and early childhood education

they receive (Hayes et al. 1990). Developmental psychologists have identified several aspects of

nonparental care arrangements that may be linked with positive child outcomes. These include the

type of care; the amount of time the child spends in nonparental care; the number of different arrangements in which a child is cared for; and attributes of the arrangement, such as the number of

children per staff member (the child/staff ratio), the number of children cared for (group size), and

the nature of the interaction between care provider and child (Hayes et al. 1990; Phillips 1987).4

Moreover, literature for parents encourages them to consider these characteristics when choosing

a program or care arrangement for their children (Hayes et al. 1990). In this report, “quality” is

defined as those characteristics previously associated with better developmental outcomes for

children.

 

4A variety of other factors characterize early childhood care and education, of course; data were gathered on this limited but

important set of characteristics in the survey that forms the basis for the present study.
1. INTRODUCTION

4

Economists argue that parents value and want other aspects of care as well (Blau 1991). In

arranging for child care or choosing education programs for their preschoolers, parents may have

budgetary or scheduling constraints to consider, as well as their children’s welfare. Furthermore,

parents may have preferences that are based neither on considerations of child development nor

on scheduling requirements, such as their willingness to travel to and from programs regardless of

their schedules. Because a single program is unlikely to meet all of parents’ and children’s needs,

parents may make trade-offs between and among various aspects of arrangements.

However, if parents need to strike a balance between their work schedules and budgets on

the one hand, and their children’s developmental needs on the other, and this leads to inadequate

attention to children’s development, society may ultimately lose the potential contributions of its

children. Therefore, it is important to examine the characteristics of children’s early care and education arrangements, including both characteristics that have been linked to positive outcomes for

children and those that are related to other family needs. In this way, appropriate interventions, if

necessary, can be developed to ensure that the needs of both children and parents are met.

To date, research has found only weak evidence of an association between child development-related attributes of care and parents’ choice of arrangements, although it has identified very

strong associations between such characteristics of care arrangements as convenient location and

cost, and parental choice (Hofferth and Wissoker 1992; Mitchell et al. 1992). There are at least

three possible interpretations of this lack of association:

1) When making child care decisions, parents may value attributes related to child development less than they value other attributes of child care arrangements. Exactly which

attributes of child care are important to parents is a question meriting further inquiry. It

is not clear, for example, whether existing research has captured all of the characteristics of child care or early education programs that parents value. In addition, developmentally related attributes are difficult to measure.

2) Alternatively, parents may not be well informed about the care their children receive or

may not know how to recognize attributes related to child development. Although parents may use the cost of a care arrangement as an indicator of its quality, several studies

have failed to find a strong association between the quality of care, as defined by child

psychologists, and how much the care costs (Helburn et al. 1995; Waite, Leibowitz,

and Witsberger 1991). Thus, parents may have difficulty when attempting to identify

high quality care.

3) Third, choice may be constrained. Parents may know what they want, but not be able to

find it in their community. They may face limitations either on the type of arrangement

(for example, no Head Start programs) or on the range of characteristics of programs

(for example, only low quality programs are available).
1. INTRODUCTION

5

Much policy discussion has focused on how public policies can improve the likelihood that

children receive care that enhances their growth and development (Hayes et al. 1990). There are

many ways that this objective could be achieved. One approach might address the third issue

above, the characteristics of programs. It may involve tightening and enforcing regulations or increasing incentives for providers to offer care that meets children’s developmental needs. However, such an approach might fail to achieve its objective if it increases the cost of care beyond

what parents are willing or able to pay. In this case, policy initiatives could lead to less use of high

quality care (Blau 1991; Hofferth and Chaplin forthcoming). Another approach might address the

needs of parents for information about care arrangements, the second issue above. A third approach might improve parental access to information about which characteristics are important to

children’s development and how to recognize them, the first issue described above. The importance of understanding the factors that lead parents to select one type of care over another is

useful in sorting out the appropriate means for improving children’s nonparental experiences and

should not be underestimated.

WHAT CHARACTERISTICS OF NONPARENTAL CARE ARE OF INTEREST?

A number of characteristics of early care and education arrangements and children’s participation in them have been proposed as important factors affecting children’s development. These

factors include the type of arrangement or program, the length of the child’s day, the ratio of children to staff, the training of the teacher, the number of different arrangements, the availability of

services such as health and psychological screening, parent involvement in the program, and

whether the child care provider or teacher speaks English. This section discusses research findings

regarding the relationship between these characteristics of child care and subsequent child development. Other qualities of child care, including the location of the program, its cost, and the

availability of care when the child is sick, can also be important to parents’ child care decisions.

This section, therefore, also discusses research regarding how these factors affect parents’ decisions about early care and education.
1. INTRODUCTION

6

Characteristics of Care Related to Child Development

The Type of Care Arrangement or Early Education Program

Child care arrangements are usually characterized in terms of both the intensity of the relationship between child or parent and provider and the formality of the relationship.5

 The least

formal arrangement and the one with the closest tie between child or family and child care provider is relative care, which is care provided by a relative (other than a parent) in the child’s home

or in the relative’s home. Other informal care arrangements include in-home child care, which is

care provided by a nonrelative in the child’s home, and family child care (or family day care),

which is care provided by a nonrelative in the provider’s home. Formal center-based programs

such as preschool programs and child care centers are nonresidential establishments where children are cared for in a group setting for all or part of the day. Such programs may be sponsored

by another organization or institution, such as Head Start, a public school, a church, or an employer, or they may be independent. They may be operated as for-profit or not-for-profit programs.

The type of child care arrangement could affect children’s well-being in varying ways, and

whether different types of child care have different effects on children’s development has been

studied extensively. In 1990 more than 95 percent of child care center directors reported that their

goal was to promote children’s development (Willer et al. 1991), and research has demonstrated

that center-based care may enhance the cognitive and social development of children. In one

study, middle-class children aged 2 to 3 years old in center-based programs scored higher on tests

of cognitive ability, social knowledge, and social competence than their counterparts who were

not in such programs (Clarke-Stewart 1987). In addition, Head Start has been shown to have

large short-term effects on the cognitive development of low-income children (McKey et al.

1985), and long-term effects on low-income white and Hispanic children (Currie and Thomas

1995).

However, the type of program that best supports child development may vary with the age

of the child. This sentiment is reflected in parental preferences for informal home-based arrangements for infants and toddlers and more formal structured programs that prepare children for

school for older preschoolers (Leibowitz, Waite, and Witsberger 1988). Furthermore, other research has suggested that very young children fare better in the more individualized care provided

in informal arrangements, than in larger-scale center-based programs (Hayes et al. 1990). Unfor-

 

5Formality refers to the structure of the child’s day. The degree of formality of the arrangement varies, of course. Many “informal” providers structure part of the child’s day for learning activities, while others facilitate children’s learning without formal

structure.
1. INTRODUCTION

7

tunately, recent research suggests that family child care and relative care for infants and toddlers

may not be of the highest quality (Galinsky, Howes, Kontos, and Shinn 1994). Yet other research

contradicts this disturbing picture of low quality care. A recent study found no direct effect of

type or quality of care on the attachment security of infants at 15 months (NICHD Early Child

Care Research Network 1996a). In sum, contemporary research has not identified quality differences by type or clearly identified types of care that are better or worse for all children.

Recent research found some evidence that infants of less responsive and sensitive mothers

were less likely to be secure, however, when cared for in child care of low quality, longer hours,

or lower stability (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network 1996). These results suggest that,

rather than the type of care, it is its various characteristics—which may be more associated with

some types of care than others, but which vary within and among types of care—that best predict

how nonparental care affects children’s development.

Among the characteristics of nonparental care and education that have been investigated are

the amount of time children spend in care; the child/staff ratio; the primary language and training

of the care provider; the number of nonparental care arrangements a child is in; and for centerbased care or education programs, whether the child has access to health-related services or developmental screening, and the extent of parents’ involvement.

Amount of Time Spent in Nonparental Care

Researchers are concerned that children may be harmed by spending too much time in nonparental care, especially very young children. In several studies, infants in early care of more than

10–20 hours per week were found to be less securely attached to the parent (Baydar and BrooksGunn 1991; Belsky 1988; Hayes et al. 1990). No such harmful effects was found among children

who were older when first placed in nonparental care or education. Recent research (NICHD

Early Child Care Research Network 1996a) found no significant effects of the amount of time

spent in child care on the attachment security or avoidance of infants. By age 3, greater hours of

child care across the first three years were associated with less sensitive and engaged mother-child

interactions, but were not directly related to cognitive and language outcomes (NICHD Early

Child Care Research Network 1997).

Ratio of Children to Staff

Low ratios of children to staff members in child care centers have been associated with children engaging in more creative, verbal, and cooperative activity, and making more gains on standardized tests (Ruopp, Travers, Glantz, and Coelen 1979). Caregivers who care for too many
1. INTRODUCTION

8

children give less personal attention to each child, and insufficient child-caregiver interaction is

unfavorable to children’s cognitive and social development (Hayes et al. 1990). The National

Child Care Staffing Study found that teachers in classrooms with better ratios were better teachers; that is, they were more sensitive and less harsh and detached (Whitebook et al. 1989). Recent

research shows that both small group sizes and low child/staff ratios are associated with positive

care-giving behaviors (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network 1996b).

Care Provider or Teacher Training

Other important attributes of child care arrangements are the teacher or provider’s specialized training in child development and their level of formal education. Children’s development is

enhanced when their care providers or teachers have special training in areas that are related to

child development (Hayes et al. 1990). Other research has also shown that the formal educational

level of the provider is associated with more sensitive caregiving (Whitebook, Howes, and Phillips

1989). Recent research shows that for both in-home care and family child care, providers with

more specialized training in child development were more positive caregivers (NICHD Early

Child Care Research Network 1996b). In child care centers, in contrast, caregivers with higher

levels of formal education were the more positive caregivers.

Number of Nonparental Care Arrangements

Multiple nonparental care arrangements may be difficult for both parents and children to

adjust to and benefit from. One study found that children who experienced a greater number of

different arrangements played in less complex ways than those with a smaller number (Howes and

Stewart 1987). In addition, having more primary caregivers across different arrangements may

inhibit the child’s attachment to one caregiver (Suwalsky, Zaslow, Klein, and Rabinovich 1986).

Care Provider or Teacher Language

Many non-English-speaking parents may be interested in having a provider from the same

cultural background to assist in raising their children in their native language. For very young

children whose families speak a language other than English, a good quality child care program

may provide teachers who support the child’s verbal language development in the home language

while also introducing English. While this may be important for infants, as children grow older it

may become more important for them to speak English in order to prepare for school (Portes and

Schauffler 1996). Thus evaluating the importance of provider language will depend on the child’s

home language and age as well as parental preferences and other factors.
1. INTRODUCTION

9

Developmental Screening and Other Health Services

Identifying learning problems or other disabilities early may lead to treatment and prevent

significant developmental delays (Zigler, Piotrkowski, and Collins 1994). Therefore, the availability of such services as hearing, speech, or vision testing; physical or dental examinations; and formal testing for developmental or learning problems may be helpful to children who would not

ordinarily receive such screening until they enter school. Some preschool or nursery school programs, in particular Head Start programs, offer these services to children (Hofferth and Kisker

1994).

Parental Involvement

Previous research has shown that parental involvement in early childhood education programs has been associated with improved classroom behavior and higher learning skills at the end

of the year (Reynolds 1992; Taylor and Machida 1994). Less is known, however, about whether

the opportunity to become involved matters to parents. Head Start believes that parental involvement is beneficial to both parents and children and strongly encourages parents to become involved in all aspects of its programs (Advisory Committee on Head Start Quality and Expansion

1993). Consequently, parents with children in Head Start may be more involved in their children’s

programs than parents of children in other programs.

Characteristics of Care Related to Other Family Needs: Distance, Cost, and Sick

Child Care

Other aspects of nonparental care arrangements or early childhood education programs may

be related to other family scheduling considerations (e.g., school or work), convenience, or the

family budget. For example, a program that is too far away from home may be inconvenient or

may make it difficult for a child’s mother to meet work commitments or to get other children to

school on time (Hofferth and Collins 1996). A program that is too costly may also make it difficult for a mother to justify working and may lead her to leaving the work force (Blau and Robins

1988; Hofferth and Collins 1996; Hofferth and Wissoker 1992).

One difficult aspect of parental employment is caring for a sick child. Parents whose providers care for sick children will be less likely to miss work when their children are ill. Consequently,

in addition to the distance between home and care and the cost of care, having access to sick child

care may be important to parents who are employed outside the home and have less access to unpaid and flexible leave (Hofferth 1996).
1. INTRODUCTION

10

WHICH CHILD AND FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS ARE OF INTEREST?

Because some characteristics of child care do enhance children’s likelihood of success in

school (Hayes et al. 1990), it is important to determine whether children vary in their likelihood of

receiving early care with characteristics positively associated with child development. For example, do different types of parents choose different types of care or care with different characteristics, thereby enhancing or reducing their children’s probability of success in school? This section

describes the child and family characteristics that have been associated with the types and characteristics of the nonparental care and education arrangements of young children. In particular, it

discusses the child and family characteristics that have been associated with increased likelihood

of school failure. Because early childhood experiences of at-risk children can enhance their cognitive and social development and reduce the risk of school failure, it is particularly important to

study the types and characteristics of their preschool nonparental care.

Child and Family Characteristics Associated With the Type of Nonparental Care

A substantial amount of research has been conducted on the family and individual factors associated with parents’ choices of child care modes (Blau and Robins 1988; Hofferth and Wissoker

1992; Lehrer 1983; Lehrer 1989; Lehrer and Kawasaki 1985; Leibowitz et al. 1988; Robins and

Spiegelman 1978; Yaeger 1979). For example, parents with younger children prefer home-based

child care, while parents of older children prefer center-based care (Leibowitz et al. 1988). Hispanic ethnicity may also be related to parents’ child care choices, as Hispanics demonstrate a

strong cultural value for community and family (Fuller et al. 1996). Controlling for a variety of

other factors, Hispanic families were less likely than white families to enroll their 3- to 5-year-old

preschoolers in center-based early childhood programs in 1991 (Hofferth, West, Henke, and

Kaufman 1994). In addition, factors such as mothers’ employment status and work hours can play

an important role in the child care decisions of families. For example, mothers who are employed

more hours are less likely to use informal arrangements or to share care with their spouses or

partners, as are mothers who are employed non-traditional hours such as in the evenings or on

weekends (Brayfield 1995; Hofferth and Wissoker 1992).

Differences in the cost and availability of child care may also be reflected in the choices

made by families in different regions and types of communities. As an example, children in urban

areas and the South6 are more likely than children in rural areas or other regions of the country to

enroll in center-based programs (Hofferth, Brayfield, Deich, and Holcomb 1991), since there are

more centers in these locations relative to the number of children who might need nonparental

care (Kisker, Hofferth, Phillips, and Farquhar 1991). In addition, because the cost of living varies

 

6Children in the South tend to be enrolled in part-day programs; center-based programs may not be their primary arrangement.
1. INTRODUCTION

11

between both urban and rural areas and the South and other regions of the country, the cost of

care varies according to community type and region as well (General Accounting Office 1997;

Macro International 1995).

Family and Child Characteristics Associated With School Failure

Children are defined as “educationally disadvantaged” or “at risk” if they have one of several

characteristics that have traditionally been associated with school failure or developmental difficulties (Pallas, Natriello, and McDill 1989; Zill, Collins, West, and Hausken 1995). These include

family characteristics such as low income, being headed by a single parent, or having many children. Since mothers are generally children’s primary caregivers, their characteristics, such as

whether they have less than a high school education or have given birth to children as teenagers,

are also important. Having a disability also places children at risk for school failure. Not speaking

English at home (Sameroff, Seifer, Barocas, Zax, and Greenspan 1987) has been associated with

children’s lower academic achievement. While the fact that a child or his/her family has one of

these characteristics does not necessarily mean that the child will do poorly in school, school

problems are more likely for these children. In addition, the more risk factors that a child has, the

lower his or her level of vocabulary comprehension and social adjustment is likely to be (Sameroff, Seifer, Barocas, Zax, and Greenspan 1987).

SUMMARY

One of the ways in which child and family characteristics may be connected to increased

rates of school failure may be their relationship with parents’ choices of child care arrangements

or early childhood education programs. Although Head Start programs and subsidies for other

early childhood education programs provide more opportunities for low-income children to attend

high quality early education programs, not all eligible children are served by these programs.

Thus, it is important to determine the degree to which child and family characteristics are associated with children’s participation in nonparental care arrangements that might enhance or inhibit

their likelihood of success in school.

The purpose of this report is not to evaluate whether children were in “good” or “bad” programs; rather, it is to examine the attributes of the programs in which the nation’s children were

cared for, parents’ sources of information about child care arrangements, and the consistency

between parents’ child care preferences and the characteristics of their children’s programs. Thus,

this report is intended to provide readers with a better understanding of the factors associated

with parents’ selection of nonparental care arrangements and early childhood education programs.
1. INTRODUCTION

12
13

Chapter 2. What Were Children’s Experiences

With Nonparental Care In 1995?

This chapter describes children’s experiences in nonparental child care during 1995. It first

discusses the number of hours per week that children spent in nonparental care; the number of

nonparental arrangements in which a child was cared for; and for children in more than one arrangement, the combinations of arrangements they were in. It continues by describing the type of

arrangement in which children spent the most time (their primary nonparental care arrangements)

and the characteristics of these arrangements.

HOURS IN NONPARENTAL CARE

The number of hours spent in nonparental care arrangements or early childhood education

programs has been linked to child development. Figure 1 shows the percentage distribution of

preschool children according to the total number of hours per week they spent in nonparental care

in 1995. About 41 percent of preschoolers spent no time in nonparental care, 15 percent spent

some time, but less than 15 hours, 8 percent spent 15 to 24 hours, 8 percent spent 25 to 34 hours,

and 28 percent spent 35 or more hours per week in nonparental care or early education programs.

Thus, fewer than 3 out of 10 preschool children were in some kind of regular full-time nonparental care (35 or more hours per week). However, among children who were in nonparental care,

almost half (47 percent) were in full-time care (table 1).

The use of parental care varies with the age of the child, with 56 percent of infants under

age 1 in parental care, declining to 16 percent of children by age 5. One might expect older children in nonparental care to be there for more hours; however, this is not the case. Although 1-

year-olds were less likely than 4- to 5-year-olds to be enrolled in nonparental care, 1-year-olds

who were in nonparental care spent an average of 4 more hours per week there than did 4- and 5-

year-olds. If mothers were using nonparental care for very young children, they may have been

doing so because they were working a substantial number of hours, perhaps due to greater economic need or a job commitment.
2. CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES WITH NONPARENTAL CARE

14

Figure 1.—Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to number of hours per

week in nonparental care: 1995

0 hours

35+ hours

15–24 hours

1–14 hours

25–34 hours

41

28

8

15

8

NOTE: For supporting data see table A1.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

NUMBER OF NONPARENTAL CARE ARRANGEMENTS

Research has shown that having multiple caregivers in the early years may diminish children’s attachment to their parent(s), as discussed earlier, and make child care arrangements difficult for parents to manage (Hayes et al. 1990). In the first year of a child’s life, it is important that

the child achieve a secure attachment to his/her caregiver in order to facilitate later development

(Hayes et al. 1990). Figure 2 shows the percentage distribution of children according to the number of regular nonparental arrangements in which they received care by the age of the child.

Among all children, 41 percent had no nonparental care arrangement, 47 percent had one, and 12

percent had two or more arrangements. Among infants (children under age 1), almost 56 percent

had no nonparental arrangement, 38 percent had one, and 6 percent had two or more. Whereas 38

percent of infants had one nonparental arrangement and 6 percent were in multiple arrangements,

the proportion of children in both one and multiple arrangements varied with age. As an example,

children aged 4 and 5 were more likely than children under age 3 to be in one or multiple arrangements. Sixteen percent of 5-year-old preschool children had no nonparental care arrangement, 59 percent had one, and 25 percent had two or more arrangements.
Table 1.Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old in parental care only; and of those in some nonparental care, percentage distribution

according to number of hours per week in nonparental care and average number of hours in nonparental care, by age: 1995

Distribution of preschool children who spent time in nonparental care

Age Number of

children

 Parental

 care only y

 Less than

 15 hours s

 15–24

 hours s

 25–34

 hours s

 35 +

 hours s

 Average

 hours s

Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Mean se

Total 21,414,000 41 0.9 26 0.8 14 0.6 13 0.7 47 1.0 30 0.3

Less than 1 4,158,000 56 1.6 19 2.0 15 1.7 14 1.9 52 3.0 31 0.9

1 4,027,000 51 1.7 19 1.5 15 1.5 13 1.3 53 2.5 32 0.7

2 4,007,000 47 1.6 24 1.5 11 1.3 14 1.3 51 1.9 30 0.6

3 4,123,000 33 1.9 27 1.3 15 1.2 12 1.3 46 1.6 29 0.5

4 4,061,000 23 1.3 32 1.4 14 1.0 13 1.1 41 1.5 28 0.5

5 1,038,000 16 1.8 30 2.7 14 2.0 17 2.1 39 3.5 28 1.1

*In all instances, “se” indicates standard error. Standard errors less than .05 were rounded to 0.0.

NOTE: Percentages may not sum to 100 and details may not sum to totals due to rounding or cell suppression.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, 1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
2. CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES WITH NONPARENTAL CARE

16

Figure 2.—Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to the number of nonparental care arrangements, by age of child: 1995

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Total Less than 1 1 2 3 4 5

None One Two or more

Number of

arrangements

Age of child

12 6 7 7

 15 22 25

 47

 38 42 46

 52

 55 59

 41

 56

 51 47

 33

 23

 16

NOTE: For supporting data see table A2.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

COMBINATIONS OF NONPARENTAL CARE ARRANGEMENTS

Children who had more than one nonparental care arrangement could have various combinations of arrangements.7

 Combinations of center-based programs plus other types of arrangements amounted to two-thirds of the combinations (65 percent) (table 2). One-third (33 percent)

of preschoolers were in a combination of center-based care with relative care, while 15 percent

were in a combination of center-based care plus family child care. Nine percent of children were in

a combination of two center-based arrangements, and 8 percent were in a center-based program

along with an in-home caregiver. In addition, other examples of combinations of arrangements in

which children received care included a combination of relative care plus another type (52 percent), including the 33 percent in the center-relative combination; a combination of two different

relative arrangements (17 percent); a combination of relative and in-home child care

 

7The few children in three or more arrangements were excluded from this analysis.

Percent
2. CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES WITH NONPARENTAL CARE

17

Table 2.Of preschool children under 6 years old enrolled in two or more nonparental care arrangements,

percentage distribution according to arrangement combinations, by age: 1995

 Age l

Arrangement combinations Total l 0–2 years

l

 3–5 years

l

Percent se Percent se Percent se

Total 100 100 100

Center + relative 33 1.8 17 2.6 41 2.3

Center + in-home child care 8 1.0 3 1.2 10 1.5

Center + family child care 15 1.3 4 1.2 20 1.7

Center + center 9 1.5 2 0.8 13 2.1

Family child care + other informal114 1.7 31 3.6 6 1.4

Relative + relative 17 1.6 38 3.6 7 1.3

Relative + in-home child care 2 0.5 4 1.2 1 0.3

Two in-home child care

 arrangements 1 0.4 2 0.8 1 0.4

Number of children 2,246,000 723,000 1,523,000

1

“Other” in this combination includes a second family child care program, an in-home child care arrangement, or a relative care

arrangement.

NOTE: Percentages may not sum to 100 and details may not sum to totals due to rounding or cell suppression.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

arrangements (2 percent); family. child care combinations, including the center-family child care

combination (29 percent); a combination of family child care plus a second family child care arrangement, an in-home caregiver, or a relative (14 percent); and in-home child care combinations

(11 percent), with 1 percent in the care of two different in-home caregivers.

The combinations of arrangements differed for children under age 3 compared with 3- to 5-

year-olds. Older preschoolers were more likely than their younger counterparts to be in a combination of center-based care and relative care, center-based care and family child care, or two centers. For example, 17 percent of children under age 3 were cared for in a combination of centerbased and relative care, while 41 percent of 3- to 5-year-olds were in this combination. Furthermore, children under 3 were more often cared for in family child care and some other informal

arrangement (31 percent) or in two relative care arrangements (38 percent) than were older children, 6 to 7 percent of whom were cared for such combinations.

Although 12 percent of children had more than one early care and education arrangement,

the remainder of the report discusses only the child’s primary nonparental care arrangement, defined as the arrangement in which the child spent the most hours in a given week.
2. CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES WITH NONPARENTAL CARE

18

TYPE OF PRIMARY NONPARENTAL CARE ARRANGEMENT

As noted above, in 1995, 41 percent of preschoolers aged 5 or under were cared for only by

their parents; that is, they received no regular care or education from an in-home caregiver, relative, family child care provider, or formal center-based program (figure 3).8

 All other children

were in some form of regular nonparental care: 23 percent in center-based care (not including

Head Start programs), 3 percent in Head Start programs, 17 percent in relative care, 13 percent in

family child care, and 3 percent in in-home child care.

Other 

center-based

Head Start

 centers

Parental care

 only

Family child

 care

In-home 

child care Relative

41

23

13

3 17

3

There is considerable interest in comparing children’s experiences in center-based programs

with those in less formal arrangements. This interest stems, at least in part, from the research

noted above in which middle class children enrolled in center-based programs scored higher in

cognitive achievement than comparable children in other care arrangements (Clarke-Stewart

 

8For a full description of children in all child care arrangements, not just the primary arrangement, see the October 1995 Statistics in Brief “Child Care and Early Education Program Participation of Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers,” table 1. The

definition of “preschool” in that report differs slightly from the definition in the present one. Both reports include children who

were either not enrolled in school or who were enrolled in nursery school, preschool, or Head Start. Children reported to be in

ungraded/no equivalent programs were included in that report but have been excluded here. This results in a weighted total of

21,414,000 preschool children in the present study compared with 21,421,000 in the previous study. The present study also

discusses arrangements that were used at least once a week; less frequent arrangements, of which there were few, were not

counted as nonparental care arrangements.

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. For supporting data see table A3.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

Figure 3.—Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to type of primary

arrangement: 1995
2. CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES WITH NONPARENTAL CARE

19

1987). Furthermore, although formal center-based programs have been found to be beneficial for

older children, experts suggest that younger children may not receive the same benefits (Hayes et

al. 1990; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network 1996a). In addition, center-based programs

may be used infrequently for infants and toddlers because they are less likely to serve these young

children. In 1990, 55 percent of center-based programs served infants, compared with 90 percent

of family child care homes (Willer et al. 1991). Consistent with this finding, in 1995, center-based

programs were the primary nonparental care arrangement for relatively few infants and toddlers

and were more common among older children (figure 4). Whereas center-based care was the primary nonparental arrangement for fewer than 10 percent of infants, it was the primary arrangement for almost two out of three 5-year-olds.

Figure 4.—Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old whose primary arrangement was a centerbased program, by age: 1995

6

10

17

35

55

64

0

20

40

60

80

100

Less than 1 1 2 3 4 5

Percent

Age of child

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. For supporting data see table A3.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
2. CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES WITH NONPARENTAL CARE

20

For the most part, however, researchers have determined that it is the quality of the program

and its appropriateness to the child’s age more than the type of program that is important to the

child’s well-being (Hayes et al. 1990). Whereas young children need more individualized attention

and care, older children need more learning opportunities and social contacts. If the former is

available in a center and the latter from an in-home caregiver, then these types of programs would

be appropriate for younger and older preschoolers, respectively. Because it is the characteristics

of the primary nonparental arrangements in which children receive care rather than the type of

care that is most crucial to children’s development, the focus of the next section of the report is

on these characteristics.

ATTRIBUTES OF CHILDREN’S PRIMARY NONPARENTAL CARE

ARRANGEMENTS

Overall, for 68 percent of children, the primary nonparental care arrangement was paid for

by their parents, and among families who paid for these arrangements, the average cost was $2.15

per hour (table 3). Children’s primary arrangements had an average of 4.2 children per care provider. For 60 percent of children, the primary arrangement was less than 10 minutes from home;

for 47 percent of children, this arrangement offered sick child care; for 58 percent, the primary

care provider was educated or trained in areas related to child development; and for 94 percent,

English was the primary language spoken with the child. Among children whose primary arrangements were center-based programs, 64 percent of parents reported that the program encouraged parental involvement, and, on average, parents reported that their children’s program offered

one health-related service, such as hearing, speech, or vision testing or a physical exam. All of

these attributes varied among different types of nonparental care arrangements.

Cost of Primary Arrangement

The cost of children’s primary arrangements varied with the type of care or education that

served as the primary arrangement.9 In-home child care ($3.02 per hour) and non-Head Start

center-based programs ($2.39 per hour) were the most expensive arrangements on an hourly basis

per child.10 Children’s parents paid more for them than for either family child care or relative care

(table 3). Parental expenditures for relative care ($1.63 per hour) and family child care ($1.84 per

hour) did not differ significantly.

 

9Only regular care and education were included, not occasional babysitting or drop-in care.

10Parental payments were adjusted by the number of children being cared for together in the arrangement.
Table 3.Of preschool children in nonparental care, percentage whose primary arrangements1

 were paid for; average cost per hour, child/staff ratio,

and number of services provided in primary arrangements; and percentage whose primary arrangements had various characteristics, by

type of primary arrangement: 1995

Percent of preschool children whose primary arrangement had characteristic

Provider

Less than Provides trained in Parent

Primary care type Average Child/staff Number of 10-minute sick child child devel- involvement English

Percent cost per ratio services2 commute care opment encouraged2 spoken

 paying se* hour3 se Average se Average se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se

Total 68 1.0 2.15 0.05 4.2 0.0 1.0 0.0 60 0.9 47 0.9 58 0.8 64 1.4 94 0.4

Total center-based 75 1.3 2.37 0.08 6.5 0.1 1.0 0.0 57 1.4 12 0.8 95 0.7 64 1.4 99 0.2

 Head Start center 13 2.6 1.58 0.30 6.7 0.2 2.5 0.1 46 4.3 26 3.2 97 1.2 90 2.2 96 1.2

 Non-Head Start center 84 1.2 2.39 0.08 6.5 0.1 0.7 0.0 58 1.5 10 0.7 95 0.8 60 1.5 99 0.2

Family child care 95 0.7 1.84 0.04 3.5 0.1 — — 67 1.6 63 2.1 48 1.9 — — 94 0.9

In-home child care 86 3.1 3.02 0.32 2.0 0.1 — — — — 78 3.4 33 4.4 — — 90 2.1

Relative 33 2.0 1.63 0.10 1.6 0.0 — — 59 2.0 85 1.1 18 1.3 — — 87 0.8

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

*In all instances, “se” indicates standard error. Standard errors less than .05 were rounded to 0.0.

1

A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program in which the child spent the most time per week.

2

Available only for children enrolled in center-based programs.

3

Average price paid among those who paid for the primary nonparental care arrangement.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, 1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
2. CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES WITH NONPARENTAL CARE

22

Although few children’s parents reported paying for Head Start as opposed to the other

center-based programs, about 13 percent of children’s parents did report paying for the program.

11 These parents may have been using wrap-around programs that provide care for the time

either before the program begins or after the program ends. Also, some Head Start programs enroll both Head Start-eligible and -ineligible children; families of ineligible children pay for the program whereas the families of eligible children do not. In addition, some parents may have

mistakenly reported that their child was in Head Start.12 Children may be in blended Head Start

and child care programs, or in programs that are called Head Start, but are not the federal Head

Start program.

Child/Staff Ratio

Parents of children whose primary nonparental care arrangements were center-based programs reported higher child/staff ratios than did parents of children in any other type of primary

arrangement (6.5 children per staff member in center-based programs, compared with 1.6 in relative care, 2.0 in in-home child care, and 3.5 in family child care). Furthermore, child/staff ratios

for children in family child care were higher than those for children cared for by in-home caregivers, or relatives and parents of in-home caregivers reported higher child/staff ratios than did parents of children cared for by relatives. These parent-reported ratios for center-based care, family

child care, in-home child care, and relative care are similar to those reported in 1990 by parents

(Hofferth et al. 1991). The parent-reported center ratios are lower than those reported by centerbased programs for preschool children 3 to 5 years old in 1990 (10:1) (Willer et al. 1991). However, parent-reported family child care ratios are similar to those reported by family child care

providers (4:1) in 1990 (Willer et al. 1991). State requirements for child/staff ratios vary substantially by age of the child, with lower ratios required for younger children. There are systematic

differences in ages of children, and, thus the ratio of children to staff, across these arrangements.

Our purpose here is to provide a general picture of the different types of arrangements. Later

analyses adjust for the age of the child.

Commute Time

Almost two-thirds of children whose primary arrangement was family child care lived within

10 minutes of their care provider, whereas the other types of care required longer travel times.

 

11Those who paid for Head Start paid about the same for their child’s program as did those who paid for non-Head-Start center-based programs. The apparent difference in cost per hour is not statistically significant.

12Although focus groups conducted before the data collection showed that families recognized the name Head Start and its

mandate to serve low-income families (Collins et al. 1996), because of the proliferation of programs with similar names in the

1990s, some parents may have been confused.
2. CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES WITH NONPARENTAL CARE

23

Fifty-eight percent of children in a non-Head Start center, 59 percent of children in relative care,

and 46 percent of children in a Head Start program lived within 10 minutes of their primary care

provider.13 Of course, there is no commute time for in-home care, which is provided in the child’s

home.

Sick Child Care

Parents of children under the care of relatives and in-home providers were more likely than

parents of children in all other types of nonparental care to report that sick child care was provided in their primary arrangement. Eighty-five percent of parents of children in relative care and

78 percent of parents of children in in-home care reported that the primary nonparental care provider cared for their children when they were ill, as did almost two-thirds of parents of children in

family child care, 26 percent of parents of children in Head Start, and 10 percent of parents of

children in non-Head-Start programs.

Training and Primary Language of Care Provider or Teacher

Children whose primary arrangements were center-based programs were the most likely

among those receiving nonparental care to have a primary care provider who was educated or

trained in child development, according to parents’ reports.14 Almost all such children were cared

for by a trained provider (95 percent), and children in Head Start and other center-based programs were equally likely to have a trained provider. In contrast, 48 percent of children in family

child care, 33 percent of children in in-home care, and 18 percent of children in relative care had a

trained provider. In addition, although the vast majority of children (94 percent) were in programs

in which English was spoken, those in all center-based programs were more likely than children in

relative care to have had an English-speaking provider (99 percent compared with 87 percent).

Health Services and Parent Involvement

Parents of children in center-based programs were asked about the services their children’s

programs offered and whether the programs encouraged parents to become involved in their children’s preschool education. Parents of children whose primary arrangements were Head Start

 

13Relative care estimates include care provided in the child’s home, which is coded as less than 10 minutes from the child’s

home.

14The NHES:95 did not ask providers how much training they had received; previous research (Ruopp et al. 1979) showed a

consistent relationship between specialized training and child development regardless of the amount of training obtained. This

study is likely to underestimate the effect of training rather than to overestimate it, since most states require and teachers/providers need to obtain only a bare minimum of specialized training for employment (Hofferth and Chaplin forthcoming).

The NHES:95 survey did not ask the level of formal schooling completed by the provider.
2. CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES WITH NONPARENTAL CARE

24

programs reported that these programs provided two and a half services, on average, compared

with an average of less than one service in other center-based programs. However, parents whose

children were in non-center-based care programs were not asked this question since few such

programs provide comparable services.

Parents of children whose primary arrangements were Head Start programs were more

likely than parents of children in other center-based programs to report that parental involvement

was encouraged. Nine out of 10 parents of children in Head Start programs were encouraged to

become involved, compared with 6 out of 10 in non-Head Start center-based programs.

SUMMARY

Hours in Nonparental Care

While a substantial proportion of children spent time in nonparental care and education in

1995, fewer than 3 out of 10 preschoolers spent 35 or more hours per week in regular full-time

nonparental care. However, of those children in nonparental arrangements, about half were in fulltime care. In particular, very young children (age 1) in nonparental care spent a substantial proportion of time in full-time care, averaging more than 30 hours per week, 4 hours more than 4- to

5-year-olds.

Number and Combinations of Nonparental Care and Education Arrangements

About 12 percent of all children are enrolled in more than one nonparental arrangement. The

proportion of children in multiple arrangements is related to age, with 6 percent of infants but 25

percent of 5-year-old children in two or more arrangements. Of those in multiple arrangements,

the combinations were strongly related to the child’s age, with family child care and relative care

combinations predominant for younger children and center-based combinations predominant for

older preschool children.

Types of Primary Nonparental Care and Education Arrangements

Parents of younger preschoolers were more likely to report that their children’s primary arrangements were informal in nature, while parents of older preschoolers were more likely to report that their children’s arrangements were more formal center-based programs. These

arrangements were consistent with the greater needs of very young children for personal attention

and of older children for school preparation.
2. CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES WITH NONPARENTAL CARE

25

Attributes of Primary Nonparental Care Arrangements

Compared with children in center-based programs, children whose primary arrangements

were informal—family child care, in-home child care, and relative care—had lower child/staff ratios and were more likely to have access to sick child care. However, children whose primary arrangements were formal center-based programs were more likely to have a trained care provider.

The cost of children’s primary arrangement was greater for children in in-home care and nonHead Start centers than for those in family child care, relative care, or Head Start programs. Finally, parents of children in family child care were most likely to report that the primary arrangement was close to home.
2. CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES WITH NONPARENTAL CARE

26
27

Chapter 3. What Factors Were Associated

With The Types and Characteristics

of the Child Care Arrangements

That Parents Chose?

INTRODUCTION

This chapter examines how parents’ and children’s characteristics, including risk factors

such as low household income, were associated with various aspects of children’s nonparental

care in 1995. It addresses such questions as whether families of children who had various risk

factors were more likely than families of children without those factors to use nonparental care for

more hours per week, to use more nonparental care arrangements, and to select care with characteristics that did not contribute to their children’s development. In contrast to chapter 2, this

chapter discusses only children who were in nonparental care in 1995. It first examines the relationships between child and family characteristics and the number of hours children spent in nonparental care. It then describes the relationships between family and child characteristics and both

the number of nonparental care arrangements and the type of primary nonparental care arrangement children’s parents choose. Finally, it examines how family and child characteristics and various characteristics of children’s primary arrangements are related to one another.

Because many child and family characteristics are interrelated, such as low household income and low maternal education, it is important to hold one of these factors constant in order to

determine the independent influence of the other characteristic. Therefore, the estimates presented

here have been adjusted to control for a number of family and child characteristics that are likely

to be associated with both the family or child characteristic and the child care characteristic being

studied.

The family and child characteristics used to adjust the estimates include the child’s age,

race–ethnicity, and disability status; the educational attainment and employment status of the

child’s mother and her age when she first gave birth; whether the home language was English; the

number of people and number of parents who lived with the child; and household income.15

Among these characteristics, the following were considered risk factors in these analyses: having a

 

15See the technical appendix B for the definitions of these variables.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

28

disability; having a mother who had not received a high school diploma or who had given birth as

a teenager; living in a home where the primary language was not English; living with only one

parent; living in a large household; and living in a low-income household.

Continuous Variables

The statistical procedures that allow researchers to take other characteristics into account

when estimating how one factor affects another sometimes require that relationships among factors be discussed in terms of different kinds of statistics. For example, in this report, child care

characteristics that take on a wide range of values, such as the number of hours children spent in

nonparental care, are discussed simply in terms of the average number of hours that different

kinds of children spent in nonparental care, taking other child and family characteristics into account.

Categorical Variables

Other characteristics of child care take on only a few values, such as the number of nonparental care arrangements in which a child received care. When assessing relationships involving

these factors, the statistics that allow researchers to consider confounding factors discuss those

relationships in terms of odds ratios. For example, this report has presented the percentages of

children who were cared for only by their parents (no nonparental care), who were in one nonparental care arrangement, and who were in more than one nonparental care arrangement. This characteristic, the number of nonparental care arrangements, could also have been discussed in terms

of odds rather than percentages: the odds that a child was in more than one nonparental care arrangement as opposed to being in one.16

The following illustrates the difference between these methods of discussing how children’s

age was related to the number of nonparental arrangements in which they received care. In terms

of percentages, whereas 6 percent of infants were in two or more nonparental care arrangements,

25 percent of 5-year-olds were in multiple arrangements, making infants 76 percent {100[1.00 -

(6 / 25)]} less likely than 5-year-olds to be in multiple arrangements (table 4). In terms of odds,

the odds of an infant being in two or more nonparental care arrangements were 0.06, and the odds

of a 5-year-old being in multiple arrangements were 0.33.17 To compare the odds of the two

groups, one computes the ratio of the odds of one group to the odds of the other group: 0.06 /

0.33 = 0.18. In other words, one might say that, in terms of odds, infants were 82 percent

 

16See appendix B for more description of the analytical methods.

17These odds were computed as follows: odds for infants = 6 / (100 - 6) = 6 / 94 = 0.06; odds for 5-year-olds = 25 / (100 - 25) =

25 / 75 = 0.33.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

29

[100(1.00 - 0.18)] less likely than 5-year-olds to be in multiple arrangements. In the remainder of

this report, many of the relationships between the characteristics of children and their families and

the care they received are discussed in terms of these odds ratios—that is, the relative percentage

of the odds of children’s care having certain characteristics that are associated with socioeconomic and demographic differences among children and families.

Table 4.Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to number of nonparental care arrangements, by age: 1995

 Number of nonparental care arrangements s

Age Number of None e One e Two or more e

children Percent se Percent se Percent se

Total 21,414,000 41 0.9 47 0.8 12 0.4

Less than 1 4,158,000 56 1.6 38 1.6 6 0.9

1 4,027,000 51 1.7 42 1.7 7 0.9

2 4,007,000 47 1.6 46 1.5 7 0.8

3 4,123,000 33 1.9 52 1.8 15 1.0

4 4,061,000 23 1.3 55 1.4 22 1.1

5 1,038,000 16 1.8 59 2.6 25 2.5

NOTE: Percentages may not sum to 100 and details may not sum to totals due to rounding or cell suppression.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, 1995,

Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

NUMBER OF HOURS IN NONPARENTAL CARE

Most likely to be in nonparental care are children with a full-time working mother, a single

mother, a mother without a high school diploma, a mother who was under age 18 when she first

gave birth, and ethnic minority children other than Hispanics. Children of mothers employed full

time spent about 38 hours in early education and care, on average (table A1), whereas children of

mothers who worked part time spent 14 fewer hours per week in nonparental care (figure 5a). In

addition, compared with children of full-time working mothers, children of mothers looking for

work spent 16 fewer hours in nonparental care, and children of mothers not in the work force

spent 20 fewer hours, with other characteristics controlled (figure 5a). Race–ethnicity was also

associated with greater use of nonparental care, controlling for other child and family characteristics: black, non-Hispanic children and those from other non-Hispanic racial–ethnic groups spent

about 3 more hours per week in nonparental care than did white non-Hispanic children (figure

5a).
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

30

Children with a number of characteristics associated with school failure spent more time

than other children in nonparental care. For instance, children living with a single parent spent 7

more hours per week in care than those living with two parents (figure 5b). Children of mothers

who were 18 years old or older when they first gave birth spent 4 to 5 fewer hours in care than

children of mothers who were under age 18 when they first gave birth.

Figure 5a.—Adjusted difference in the number of hours preschool children under 6 years old spent in nonparental care, by mother’s employment status and race–ethnicity: 1995

-14

-16

-20

3 3

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

Black,

nonHispanic

vs. white,

Other,

nonHispanic

vs. white,

Difference in hours

Mother’s employment status Child’s race–ethnicity

Not in the 

labor force 

vs. 

employed 

35+ hours

Looking 

for work

vs. 

employed 

35+ hours

Employed 

<35 hours 

vs. 

employed 

35+ hours

Black, nonHispanic

vs. white, 

nonHispanic

Other, nonHispanic

vs.

white, nonHispanic

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; region and urbanicity of residence; mother’s educational attainment; household income, structure and size; home language; child’s disability status; and mother’s age at first birth. For supporting data see

table A4.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

31

Figure 5b.—Adjusted difference in the number of hours per week preschool children under 6 years old spent

in nonparental care, by household structure and mother’s age at first birth: 1995

-5

-4

7

-10

-5

0

5

10

One

parent

vs. two

parents

Difference in

hours

Household structure Mother’s age at first birth

Mother 18 

to 19 years 

old

vs.

<18 years 

old

Mother 20 

years old or 

older

vs.

18 years old

-4

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; mother’s employment status; region and urbanicity of residence; mother’s educational attainment; household income and size; home language; and child’s disability status. For supporting data see table A4.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

Because the number of hours that infants (children younger than age 1) spend in nonparental

care has important implications for a child’s development, this analysis examined the relationships

between child and family characteristics and the number of hours that infants spent in nonparental

care arrangements. Again, infants whose mothers worked less than full time or were not working,

spent significantly less time in nonparental care than did those whose mothers worked full time

(figure 6a). However, in contrast to the relationships between race–ethnicity and the number of

hours that all preschoolers spent in nonparental care discussed previously, Hispanic infants spent

about 3 fewer hours per week in nonparental care than white non-Hispanic infants (figure 6b).
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

32

Figure 6a.—Adjusted difference in the number of hours per week infants spent in nonparental care, by

mother’s employment status: 1995

-15 -15

-14

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

Difference in

hours

Looking for 

work

vs. 

employed 

35+ hours

Not in the 

labor force 

vs. 

employed 

Employed 

<35 hours 

vs. 

employed 

35+ hours

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; region and urbanicity of residence; mother’s educational

attainment; household income, structure, and size; home language; child’s disability status; and mother’s age at first birth. For

supporting data see table A4.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

In addition, three risk factors were associated with infants spending more time in nonparental care: the level of maternal education, household structure, and children’s disability status. Infants whose mothers had a high school diploma but no postsecondary education spent almost 6

fewer hours per week in nonparental care than infants whose mothers did not have a high school

diploma. Similar to the pattern among all preschoolers, infants living with a single parent spent 4

more hours per week in care than those living with two parents. Infants with a disability spent almost 8 more hours per week in care than infants without a disability.

Overall, the results suggest that maternal employment, race–ethnicity, and number of parents were consistently associated with the amount of time a child spent in nonparental care across

age groups. However, infants at greater risk—including children of single parents, children whose
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

33

mothers did not have high school diplomas, and children with a disability—spent more hours per

week in care. One explanation for this may be that many of these children’s mothers were enrolled

in programs to assist them in completing their schooling, with child care provided on-site. Alternatively, they may have been in training programs to become economically self-sufficient, making

them eligible for child care subsidies, since it is unlikely that they would be able to afford early

education and care programs without assistance. Furthermore, infants with a disability may have

spent more hours in nonparental care, on average, because school systems are required to identify

and serve preschool children with disabilities.

Figure 6b.—Adjusted difference in the number of hours per week infants spent in nonparental care, by

selected child and family characteristics: 1995

4

8

-6

-3

-10

-5

0

5

10

One

parent

vs. two

parents

One or

more

vs.

none

Difference in

 hours

Child’s

race–ethnicity

Mother’s

educational attainment

Household

structure

Child’s

disability status

High 

school 

diploma 

vs. no 

high 

school 

diploma

Hispanic 

vs.

white, 

nonHispanic

-3

-6

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; mother’s employment status; region and urbanicity of residence; household

income and size; home language; and mother’s age at first birth. For supporting data see table A4.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

34

NUMBER OF NONPARENTAL CARE ARRANGEMENTS

Consistent with results reported earlier, 3- to 5-year-olds were 131 percent more likely than

children under age 3 to be enrolled in two or more arrangements as opposed to one nonparental

arrangement, controlling for a number of child and family characteristics (figure 7a).18 Children

with various risk factors were also more likely than children without these characteristics to be in

multiple arrangements rather than only one. Compared with children who lived with two parents,

Figure 7a.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that a preschool child under 6 years old was cared for in

two or more nonparental care arrangements versus one, by child and family characteristics:

1995

131 135

31 -40

-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

3-5-

year

olds vs.

0 to 2-

One

parent

vs. two

parents

One or

more

vs.

none

Percent difference

in odds

Child’s age Household 

structure

Home language Child’s

disability status

English 

vs.

not 

English

-40

3- to 5-yearolds vs. 

0- to 2-yearolds

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. Difference adjusted for race–ethnicity; mother’s employment status; region and urbanicity of residence; mother’s

educational attainment; household income and size; and mother’s age at first birth. For supporting data see table A5.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

 

18Child and family characteristics that were statistically controlled include children’s race-ethnicity, maternal employment,

region, urban residence, maternal education, household structure, household income, household size, home language, children’s

disabling condition, and maternal age at first birth.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

35

children who lived with a single parent were 135 percent more likely to be enrolled in multiple

arrangements. Finally, children with a disability were 31 percent more likely than nondisabled

children to be in multiple arrangements as opposed to one arrangement. However, children in

homes where English was the primary language were 40 percent less likely than children in nonEnglish-speaking homes to be in multiple arrangements.

Maternal employment was also linked to the number of arrangements. Children were less

likely to be in multiple arrangements if their mothers were not employed (that is, either looking

for work or not in labor force) (figure 7b). Some research suggests that multiple arrangements

may provide mothers with more flexibility in choosing arrangements and schedules, than would a

single arrangement (Hofferth and Collins 1996). In addition, parents with multiple arrangements

may be less likely to have to leave their jobs when one child care arrangement fails, because they

have a back-up (Hofferth and Collins 1996). Alternatively, mothers may want their children to

have a group experience, but feel they are not ready for a full-day program; consequently, combining a nursery school program with in-home child care or family child care may be an ideal option for them.

Figure 7b.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that a preschool child under 6 years old was cared for

in two or more nonparental care arrangements versus one, by mother’s employment status:

1995

-75 -64

-100

-50

0

50

100

Percent difference in odds

 Looking for

 work vs.

 employed

 35+ hours

-75

-64

 Not in the

 labor force

 vs. employed

 35+ hours

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; region and urbanicity of residence; mother’s educational

attainment; household income, structure, and size; home language; child’s disability status; and mother’s age at first birth. For

supporting data see table A5.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

36

TYPE OF PRIMARY NONPARENTAL CARE ARRANGEMENT

As noted above, a child’s primary arrangement could be one of several types, and the type

of arrangement that parents chose for a given child varied among children and families. This section discusses how child and family characteristics were related to the odds that a child’s primary

arrangement was a Head Start program, family child care, in-home care, or relative care, as opposed to non-Head Start center-based care, adjusting for other child and family characteristics.

Non-Head Start center-based programs were selected as the comparison category, first, because

they are the single most commonly used form of nonparental care (figure 3), and second, because

they are generally used as the comparison in most research of this type. Therefore, using Head

Start programs as the comparison category in this analysis facilitates comparisons with results

from other studies (e.g., Hofferth and Wissoker 1992).

Head Start

Head Start is a program for preschool children whose family income is below the federal

poverty level or who have disabilities.19 As a result of Head Start eligibility rules, family risk factors such as low-income and low-maternal education were closely tied to the odds that a child’s

primary arrangement was a Head Start program versus another center-based program. The odds

that children from households with incomes of $35,001 to $50,000 were in Head Start were 87

percent lower than those of children from households with incomes of $15,000 or less (figure 8a).

Similarly, the odds that children in households with incomes of more than $50,000 were in Head

Start were 94 percent lower than those of children with household incomes of $15,000 or less.

The odds that the primary arrangement of children whose mothers had some college was a Head

Start program, versus another center-based program, were 61 percent less than those of children

whose mothers had not completed high school. If their mothers had a college degree or some

post-college education, the odds that children’s primary arrangement was a Head Start program

were 88 percent less than those of children whose mothers did not have a high school diploma.

Furthermore, race–ethnicity was independently related to children’s enrollment in Head

Start as their primary nonparental care arrangement. The odds of being enrolled in Head Start

versus another center-based program were at least 200 percent greater for minority children than

for white non-Hispanic children, after adjusting for family income and other factors. This may reflect the fact that the program originated in the 1960s when the War on Poverty, with its focus on

minority families, was being conducted (U.S. Department of Labor 1965). Head Start may have

 

19Since eligibility is determined once, whereas family situations may change over the two years that their children are eligible,

the incomes of Head Start families do not have to be below the poverty level.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

37

greater acceptance and use among minorities. The association with race–ethnicity may also reflect

the greater concentration of poverty in minority communities.

Figure 8a.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool child under 6 years old was a Head Start program versus another center-based program, by child and

family characteristics: 1995

-100

0

100

200

300

Percent

difference

in odds

Household

income

Mother’s educational

attainment

Child’s race–ethnicity

$35,001

–50,000

vs.

$15,000

or less

More than

$50,000

vs.

$15,000

or less

Some

college

vs.

no high

school

diploma

College/

graduate

school

vs.

no high

school

diploma

Black, nonHispanic

vs.

white,

nonHispanic

Hispanic

vs.

white,

nonHispanic

Other, nonHispanic

vs.

white,

nonHispanic

-87

-94

-61

-88

203

284

216

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; mother’s employment;

region and urbanicity of residence; household structure and size; home language; child’s disability status; and mother’s age at

first birth. For supporting data see table A6.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

38

Children with disabilities are eligible for enrollment in Head Start regardless of their family

income. In 1995, the odds that the primary arrangement of children with one or more disabling

conditions was a Head Start program versus another center-based program were 94 percent

greater than those of children without such conditions, holding other child and family characteristics constant (figure 8b).

Finally, consistent with concerns of policymakers that Head Start is not accessible to families with employment-related constraints (Advisory Committee on Head Start Quality and Expansion 1993), the odds that the primary arrangement of a child whose mother was not in the labor

force was a Head Start program versus another center-based program were 58 percent greater

than those of children whose mothers were employed full time, adjusting for household income,

maternal education, and other child and family characteristics.

Figure 8b.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool child under 6 years old was a Head Start program versus another center-based program, by child and

family characteristics: 1995

58

94

-100

-50

0

50

100

One or

more vs.

none

Not in the

labor force

vs.

employed

Percent difference

 in odds

Child’s disability

status

Mother’s employment 

status

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; region

and urbanicity of residence; mother’s educational attainment; household income, structure, and size; home language; and

mother’s age at first birth. For supporting data see table A6.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

39

Family Child Care

The odds that the primary arrangement of 3- to 5-year-old children was family child care

versus a non-Head Start center-based program were 80 percent less than those of younger children (figure 9). This figure also indicates that family child care was used more often for children

with employed mothers. The odds that the primary arrangement of children whose mothers were

not employed was family child care versus a non-Head Start center-based program were about 80

percent less than those of children with full-time working mothers.

There was no consistent relationship between a child’s being at greater risk of educational

failure and the use of family child care versus a non-Head Start center-based program as the primary arrangement. However, family child care was used as the primary arrangement less often for

children from high-income families than for children from low-income families. For

Figure 9.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool child under

6 years old was family child care versus a non-Head Start center-based program, by child and

family characteristics: 1995

More than

$50,000

vs. $15,000

or less

One or more

vs. none

3 to 5 years old vs.

0 to 2 years old

Looking for

work

vs. employed

35+ hours

Not in the

labor force

vs. employed

35+ hours

-100

-50

0

50

100

Child’s age Mother’s employment status Household income Child’s disability

status

Percent difference

in odds

-80 -84 -81 -34

-38

3- to 5-

years old

vs. 0- to 2-

years old

One or

more vs.

none

More than

$50,000 vs.

$15,000 or

less

Not in the

labor force

vs.

employed

35+ hours

Looking

for work

vs.

employed

35+ hours

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for race–ethnicity; region and urbanicity

of residence; mother’s educational attainment; household structure and size; home language; and mother’s age at first birth. For

supporting data see table A6.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, 1995,

Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

40

example, the odds that the primary arrangement was family child care versus a non-Head Start

center-based program were 34 percent less for children with household incomes greater than

$50,000, than for children with household incomes of $15,000 or less. Also, the odds that the

primary arrangement was family child care versus a non-Head Start center-based program were

38 percent less for children with disabilities, than for nondisabled children. Since family child care

providers are generally not trained to care for children with special needs, and may not receive

any special subsidies for doing so, parents may prefer other care arrangements when they have a

disabled child.

In-Home Child Care

Several child and family characteristics distinguished the use of in-home care as the primary arrangement as opposed to non-Head Start center-based care. The odds that in-home care versus

non-Head Start center-based care was a child’s primary arrangement were 83 percent less for 3-

to 5-year-olds, than for children under age 3 (figure 10a). Also, black, non-Hispanic children

-83 -67 -89

-100

-50

0

50

100

Child’s age Child’s race–

ethnicity

Mother’s employment status

Percent difference

in odds

3- to 5-

years old

vs. 0- to 2-

years old

Black, nonHispanic

vs. white,

nonHispanic

Looking

for work

vs.

employed

35+ hours

-67

-89 -83

`````bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for region and urbanicity of residence;

mother’s educational attainment; household income, structure, and size; home language; child’s disability status; mother’s age

at first birth. For supporting data see table A6.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

Figure 10a.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool child

under 6 years old was in-home child care versus a non-Head Start center-based program, by

child and family characteristics: 1995
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

41

were 67 percent less likely than white, non-Hispanic children to be cared for by an in-home caregiver in their own homes than in a non-Head Start center. The mother’s employment status also

appears to have been important to families’ likelihood of using in-home care as the primary care

arrangement. As an example, the odds that the primary arrangement of children whose mothers

were looking for work was in-home care versus a non-Head Start center-based program were 89

percent less than those of children whose mothers were employed full time.

In general, children at greater risk of school failure were as likely as children at lower risk to

be in in-home care versus non-Head Start center-based care, controlling for other child and family

characteristics. However, the odds that a child’s primary arrangement was in-home care versus a

non-Head Start center were greater for children in larger households than for those in smaller

ones (figure 10b). This may be because in-home care may be both more efficient and more costeffective than center care when several children in the family need care, which is often the case in

larger households compared with smaller ones.

Figure 10b.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool child

under 6 years old was in-home child care versus a non-Head Start center-based program, by

householder size: 1995

-100

0

100

200

300

400

4 persons vs. 2–3

persons

5 persons vs. 2–3

persons

6 or more persons vs.

2–3 persons

Percent difference in odds

119

183

317

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; employment status; region and urbanicity of residence; educational attainment; household income and structure; home language;

child’s disability status; and age at first birth. For supporting data see appendix table 6.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

42

Relative Care

Also consistent with previous findings, the odds that relative care as opposed to a non-Head

Start center program was the primary arrangement were 81 percent less for older preschoolers

than for younger ones (figure 11a). In addition, these odds were greater for Hispanic children

(143 percent) and children who were neither black nor Hispanic, but could have been Native

American, Asian, or of another race–ethnicity (71 percent), than for non-Hispanic white children.

Choosing relative care over non-Head Start center-based care as the primary arrangement was

also associated with the employment status of mothers. The odds that a child’s primary arrangement was relative care as opposed to a non-Head Start child care center were 70 to 73 percent

less for children whose mothers were not employed (either looking for work or not in the labor

force) than for children whose mothers were employed full time.

-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

3- to 5-year-olds

vs.

0- to 2-year-olds

Hispanic

vs.

white,

non-Hispanic

Other,

non-Hispanic

vs.

white,

non-Hispanic

Looking for

work

vs.

employed

35+ hours

Not in the

labor force

vs.

employed

35+ hours

Child’s age Child’s race–ethnicity Mother’s employment status

Percent difference in odds

-81

143

71

-70 -73

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; employment status; region and urbanicity of residence; educational attainment; household income and structure; home language;

child’s disability status; and age at first birth. For supporting data see appendix table 6.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, 1995,

Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

Figure 11a.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool child under 6 years old was relative care versus a non-Head Start center-based program, by child and

family characteristics: 1995
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

43

Controlling for other child and family characteristics, the odds that a child’s primary arrangement was relative care versus non-Head Start center-based care were greater for children at

greater risk of school failure due to low income, large family size, and low maternal education

than for other children. The odds that children from families with incomes of more than $50,000

were in relative care versus non-Head Start center-based care were 53 percent less than those of

children from families with incomes of $15,000 or less (figure 11b). Moreover, relative care versus non-Head Start center-based care was less often the primary arrangement for children whose

mothers had attended college than it was for children of mothers without a high school diploma.

Figure 11b.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement of a preschool child

under 6 years old was relative care versus a non-Head Start center-based program, by child

and family characteristics: 1995

-100

-80

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

-37

-66

-53

95

-34

Some college

vs.

no high 

school 

diploma

College/

graduate 

school

vs.

no high school 

diploma

More than 

$50,000

vs.

$15,000 or less

6 or more

vs.

2–3 persons

One or more

vs.

none

Mother’s educational attainment Household

income

Household

size

Child’s disability 

status

Percent 

difference in 

odds

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; employment status; region and urbanicity of residence; educational attainment; household income and structure; home language;

child’s disability status; and age at first birth. For supporting data see appendix table 6.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

44

Finally, household size was also related to the type of primary arrangement. The odds that children from families of six or more persons were in relative care most of the time they were in nonparental care as opposed to non-Head Start centers, were 95 percent greater than these odds for

children from a two- to three-person household. The fact that large households used relative care

may reflect the greater availability of potential caregivers in such households, as well as their familial orientation and care preferences.

As with family child care, however, disability status was associated with lower odds of the

primary arrangement being relative care versus non-Head Start center-based care. For instance,

children with disabilities were 34 percent less likely than those with no disability to be in relative

care rather than non-Head Start centers most of the time they were in nonparental care (figure

11b). The fact that children with disabilities were less likely to be in relative care versus non-Head

Start center care probably reflects their greater probability of participation in special programs

that provide early care and education at a reduced cost. It may also reflect lack of training on the

part of relatives to provide such care.

Summary

The results clarify where children spend most of their nonparental child care and education

time and compare children with characteristics associated with greater and lesser risk of school

failure. High-risk children are more likely than lower-risk children to spend most of their time in

Head Start programs and in relative care, versus other center-based programs. Within this group

of high-risk children, however, the findings are somewhat different for children with disabilities.

They are more likely than lower-risk children to spend most of their nonparental care time in Head

Start programs and in other center-based programs, compared with family child care or relative

care. Public support for the early care and education of such children provides an incentive to

identify them at an early age and to enroll them in appropriate programs.

The other important characteristic consistently associated with variation in the type of primary nonparental care arrangement chosen was the mother’s employment status. Children whose

mothers were employed full time were more likely than children whose mothers were not employed to spend most of their nonparental care time in in-home care, family child care, and relative

care as opposed to non-Head Start center care. Finally, adjusting for other factors, children whose

mothers were employed were much less likely to be enrolled in Head Start than in a non-Head

Start center-based program. This is consistent with other research showing lower enrollment rates

in Head Start of eligible children of employed compared with nonemployed mothers (Hofferth

1994).
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

45

As noted above, it is the characteristics of children’s nonparental care rather than the type of

care that is likely to relate to their ability to succeed in school. Therefore, although the type of

care that served as children’s primary arrangement varied among children, it is also important to

examine how the characteristics of that care varied with the characteristics of children and their

families, the topic of the next section.

ATTRIBUTES OF CHILDREN’S PRIMARY NONPARENTAL CARE

ARRANGEMENTS

This section of the report focuses on how the attributes of children’s primary arrangements

varied with child and family characteristics. The care attributes discussed here include the cost,

child/staff ratio, number of services available, availability of sick child care, commute time between home and care, whether the care provider or teacher had child development training,

whether parent involvement in the child care program was encouraged, and whether the care provider or teacher spoke English. Tables 5 to 12 present statistics that describe how various child

and family characteristics are related to one of these attributes of children’s primary arrangement,

controlling for other child and family characteristics and the type of care that was the primary arrangement.20

These analyses control for the type of care as well as for various child and family characteristics, because many of these attributes are strongly associated with some types of care and not

with others. Thus, in many instances, when parents choose a type of care, they are choosing a set

of attributes. For example, compared with other types of child care, center-based programs tend

to have higher child/staff ratios and a greater likelihood of trained providers, and are less likely to

provide sick child care (table 3). Therefore, when parents choose a center-based program, they

are more likely to get all of these characteristics even if, for instance, they would prefer to have

lower child/staff ratios and sick child care. Because characteristics of care arrangements are often

bundled in this way, in order to assess the relationship between a child or family characteristic and

a given characteristic of a child care arrangement, it is necessary to take the type of care into account. Otherwise, any association between a child or family characteristic and a child care attribute might be a mere artifact of the type of care chosen and its association with the child/family

characteristic. Therefore, the question becomes, controlling for the type of care they choose, are

some families more likely than others to obtain arrangements with these attributes?

 

20The analytic procedure used was discussed in the introduction to chapter 3. Ordinary least squares regression was used when

the dependent variable was continuous; logistic regression was used when the dependent variable was dichotomous; and multinomial logistic regression was used when the dependent variable consisted of several categories.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

46

Table 5.Average difference in parental expenditures for children’s primary arrangements, adjusted for

child and family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995

Characteristics

 Average

 difference in

 dollars per hour

se

Age

2 or younger reference group

3–5 -0.19* 0.09

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic reference group

Black, non-Hispanic -0.18 0.09

Hispanic -0.09 0.10

Other, non-Hispanic -0.34* 0.12

Mother’s employment status

35 hours or more per week reference group

Less than 35 hours per week 0.19* 0.09

Looking for work 0.06 0.13

Not in the labor force 0.24* 0.12

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school reference group

High school -0.02 0.09

Some college 0.24 0.12

College/graduate school 0.32* 0.12

Household structure

Two parents reference group

One parent -0.15 0.12

Household income

$15,000 or less reference group

$15,001–25,000 -0.04 0.15

$25,001–35,000 0.13 0.17

$35,001–50,000 0.12 0.18

More than $50,000 0.58* 0.19

Household size

2–3 persons reference group

4 persons -0.03 0.09

5 persons -0.05 0.12

6 or more persons -0.23* 0.11

Home language

English reference group

Not English -0.15 0.10

Disabling condition

None reference group

One or more -0.31* 0.08
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

47

Table 5.Average difference in parental expenditures for children’s primary arrangements, adjusted for

child and family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995Continued

Characteristics

 Average

 difference in

 dollars per hour

se

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 reference group

18–19 0.20 0.12

20 or older 0.18* 0.08

Primary arrangement type

Head Start center -1.20* 0.10

Non-Head Start center reference group

Family child care -0.28* 0.10

In-home child care 0.39 0.29

Relative -1.23* 0.10

*Coefficient significantly different from 0, p < .05.

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis and whose parents paid for that care arrangement or program. A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the

regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program in which the child spent the most time per week.

Model included controls for census region and urbanicity of residence.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

Expenditures on Care

A number of child and family characteristics, including the child’s age, the mother’s employment status, and the type of primary care arrangement, as well as several risk factors, were

associated with the cost of children’s primary arrangements, among those who paid for care. Parents paid $.19 per hour less for the primary arrangements of older preschoolers than for those of

younger preschoolers, controlling for other child and family characteristics (table 5).

The employment status of the mother was also a determinant of expenditures on care. For

instance, mothers who worked fewer than 35 hours per week or who were not in the labor force

paid more per hour for their children’s primary arrangements than did mothers who were employed full time. Such mothers are likely to select part-day programs, which are expensive on a

per-hour basis (Hofferth, Brayfield, Deich, and Holcomb 1991; Willer et al. 1991). In addition,

full-day programs often charge more per hour for part-day children because they occupy a fullday slot. Finally, expenditures were lower for children whose primary arrangements were Head

Start programs, family child care, and relative care, compared with non-Head Start center-based

care.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

48

Risk factors were also related to expenditures: the parents of children who scored lowest on

a number of risk factors paid more per hour for their children’s primary nonparental care than the

parents of children at greatest risk of school failure. Adjusting for other child and family characteristics and the type of care chosen, mothers who had completed college or had some graduate

education paid $.32 more per hour for their children’s primary nonparental care than those who

had not received a high school diploma. Parents with household incomes of more than $50,000

paid $.58 more per hour than those with incomes of $15,000 or less. In addition, mothers who

were age 20 or older when they first gave birth paid $.18 more per hour for their children’s primary nonparental care than those who were under age 18 at first birth, perhaps because the latter

were more likely to receive public subsidies.

Similarly, parents of children who were at greatest risk of school failure on several risk factors paid less for their children’s primary nonparental care than did parents whose children were at

lowest risk. Households with six or more members paid less than those with two or three members, perhaps because some household members may provide care. Finally, parents of children

with disabilities paid $.31 less per hour than did parents of children who were not disabled. Again,

their children were probably more likely to participate in subsidized programs.

Child/Staff Ratio

Adjusting for other child and family characteristics, both children’s age and their type of

primary nonparental care were associated with the child/staff ratio in the child’s primary arrangement (table 6). Independent of the type of primary arrangement, 3- to 5-year-olds were in programs with an average child/staff ratio that was higher by about 1.1 children than the average

ratio for children under age 3. State child care regulations generally permit each staff member or

care provider to care for larger groups of older children (Hayes et al. 1990). Moreover, the type

of arrangement was associated with the child/staff ratio of the child’s program independent of the

child’s age. Consistent with the bivariate relationship discussed above (Chapter 2), family child

care, in-home child care, and relative care had smaller ratios of children per provider than centerbased care.

Two risk factors were also associated with the child/staff ratio of the child’s primary arrangement. Children from households with four persons and six or more persons had primary arrangements with child/staff ratios that were 0.30 and 0.58 children higher, respectively, than those

of children from households with two to three persons. This might be because all children in a

given family were often cared for together. In addition, compared with the primary arrangements

of nondisabled children, the child/staff ratios of disabled children’s arrangements were 0.37 children lower.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

49

Number of Services

Consistent with earlier findings, the parents of children whose primary arrangement was a

Head Start program reported that their child’s program offered an average of 1.27 more healthrelated services than did the parents of children whose primary arrangement was another centerbased program (table 7). Independent of program type, older children had access to about onehalf more services, on average, than younger children, and black, non-Hispanic children had access to 0.26 more services than white, non-Hispanic children.

Children’s risk of school failure was also associated with the availability of health-related

services through their primary arrangements. Children whose mothers had completed at least

some college and children who lived in households with incomes of more than $35,000 were in

programs that offered fewer services than the programs of children whose mothers had not completed high school or whose households had incomes of $15,000 or less, respectively. These

findings probably reflect disadvantaged children’s greater access to Head Start and to subsidized

non-Head Start center-based programs (Hofferth 1995). Alternatively, higher income parents may

neither need nor seek programs with such services. The center-based primary arrangements of

children whose home language was not English offered an average of 0.59 more services than did

those of children whose home language was English. Children who had a disability also were in

primary arrangements that offered more services than those of children who did not have a disability.

Availability of Sick Child Care

As with health-related services, the primary arrangements of children who were at greater

risk of school failure were more likely than those of children at lower risk to offer sick child care.

Children with household incomes of $35,001–$50,000 were 31 percent less likely than children

whose family income was $15,000 or less to have access to sick child care (table 8). Similarly,

children of mothers who were 20 or older when they first gave birth were 33 percent less likely

than children whose mothers first gave birth before they were age 18 to have access to such care.

One exception was the parents of children in the largest households (6 or more persons): they

were less likely than the parents of children in two- to three-person households to report that their

children’s primary arrangement offered sick child care.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

50

Table 6.Average difference in child/staff ratio of children’s primary arrangements, adjusted for child and

family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995

Characteristics

Average

difference in

child/staff ratio

se

Age

2 or younger reference group

3–5 1.10* 0.08

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic reference group

Black, non-Hispanic -0.22 0.12

Hispanic -0.05 0.14

Other, non-Hispanic -0.09 0.24

Mother’s employment status

35 hours or more per week reference group

Less than 35 hours per week 0.00 0.09

Looking for work -0.06 0.19

Not in labor force -0.01 0.12

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school reference group

High school 0.01 0.13

Some college 0.10 0.15

College/graduate school 0.20 0.17

Household structure

Two parents reference group

One parent 0.06 0.11

Household income

$15,000 or less reference group

$15,001–25,000 -0.13 0.14

$25,001–35,000 0.05 0.14

$35,001–50,000 -0.04 0.14

More than $50,000 0.17 0.14

Household size

2–3 persons reference group

4 persons 0.30* 0.09

5 persons 0.05 0.11

6 or more persons 0.58* 0.18

Home language

English reference group

Not English 0.27 0.29

Disabling condition

None reference group

One or more -0.37* 0.13
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

51

Table 6.Average difference in child/staff ratio of children’s primary arrangements, adjusted for child and

family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995Continued

Characteristics

Average

difference in

child/staff ratio

se

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 reference group

18–19 -0.17 0.16

20 or older 0.09 0.14

Primary arrangement type

Head Start center 0.15 0.24

Non-Head Start center reference group

Family child care -2.61* 0.11

In-home child care -4.15* 0.13

Relative -4.44* 0.11

*Coefficient significantly different from 0, p <.05.

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood

education program in which the child spent the most time per week. Model included controls for census region and urbanicity

of residence.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

In addition to these risk factors, the mother’s employment status and the type of primary arrangement were related to the availability of sick child care in the primary arrangement. Children

with mothers not in the labor force were less likely than children of full-time employed mothers to

have access to sick child care in their primary arrangements. Compared with children whose primary arrangements were non-Head Start center-based programs, children in all other care or education arrangements were more likely to have access to care when ill.

Commute Time

Having a short commute between home and their children’s primary nonparental care arrangement can be an important feature for busy parents. As the statistics presented in table 9 indicate, having a primary arrangement that was located within 10 minutes from home was associated

with children’s race–ethnicity, some aspects of their mothers’ educational attainment and employment status, and the type of primary arrangement. Black, non-Hispanic children and children

of other, non-Hispanic racial–ethnic backgrounds were 35 percent less likely than white, nonHispanic children to be in a primary arrangement that was less than 10 minutes from home (table

9). Children whose mothers had some college education were 48 percent more likely than
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

52

Table 7.Average difference in the number of services offered by children’s center-based primary arrangements, adjusted for child and family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995

Characteristics

Average

difference in

number of services

se

Age

2 or younger reference group

3–5 0.48* 0.05

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic reference group

Black, non-Hispanic 0.26* 0.11

Hispanic 0.08 0.12

Other, non-Hispanic -0.12 0.13

Mother’s employment status

35 hours or more per week reference group

Less than 35 hours per week 0.08 0.07

Looking for work 0.01 0.14

Not in labor force 0.07 0.07

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school reference group

High school -0.15 0.13

Some college -0.31* 0.14

College/graduate school -0.40* 0.14

Household structure

Two parents reference group

One parent -0.16 0.09

Household income

$15,000 or less reference group

$15,001–25,000 -0.05 0.11

$25,001–35,000 -0.10 0.12

$35,001–50,000 -0.32* 0.11

More than 50,000 -0.21* 0.11

Household size

2–3 persons reference group

4 persons -0.12 0.07

5 persons 0.00 0.09

6 or more persons -0.14 0.11

Home language

English reference group

Not English 0.59* 0.17

Disabling condition

None reference group

One or more 0.45* 0.09
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

53

Table 7.Average difference in the number of services offered by children’s center-based primary arrangements, adjusted for child and family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995

—Continued

Characteristics

Average

difference in

number of services

se

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 reference group

18–19 -0.07 0.16

20 or older -0.10 0.14

Primary arrangement type

Head Start center 1.27* 0.12

Non-Head Start center reference group

*Coefficient significantly different from 0, p <.05.

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood

education program in which the child spent the most time per week. Model included controls for census region and urbanicity

of residence.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

children whose mothers had not earned a high school diploma to have a 10-minute commute to

their primary arrangement. This same relationship did not hold for children of mothers who had

completed college or attended graduate school, however. In addition, children whose mothers

were not in the labor force were 28 percent more likely than children whose mothers worked full

time to live within 10 minutes of their primary arrangement.21 Finally, compared with children

whose primary arrangement was a non-Head Start center-based program, children in Head Start

were 36 percent less likely to live within 10 minutes of their primary arrangement, and children in

family child care were 16 percent more likely to do so.

Training of Teacher or Care Provider

Hispanic race–ethnicity was related to whether the care provider or teacher in a child’s primary arrangement had received training in child development. Hispanic children were 33 percent

less likely than white, non-Hispanic children to be in a primary arrangement with a trained provider (table 10). The only risk factor associated with having a trained provider was whether children came from single- or two-parent families. For example, children in single-parent families

 

21While parents appear to prefer a program close to their home, some may find a program close to their work to be convenient.

Distance between work site and child care site was not obtained in the NHES:95.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

54

Table 8.Odds ratio that children’s primary arrangements provided sick child care, adjusted for child and

family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995

Characteristics Odds ratio

Age

2 or younger reference group

3–5 1.02

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic reference group

Black, non-Hispanic 1.83*

Hispanic 0.96

Other, non-Hispanic 1.52

Mother’s employment status

35 hours or more per week reference group

Less than 35 hours per week 1.02

Looking for work 0.83

Not in labor force 0.73*

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school reference group

High school 0.85

Some college 1.05

College/graduate school 0.75

Household structure

Two parents reference group

One parent 1.15

Household income

$15,000 or less reference group

$15,001–25,000 1.05

$25,001–35,000 0.86

$35,001–50,000 0.69*

More than $50,000 0.73

Household size

2–3 persons reference group

4 persons 0.86

5 persons 0.87

6 or more persons 0.70*

Home language

English reference group

Not English 0.68

Disabling condition

None reference group

One or more 1.02

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 reference group

18–19 1.08

20 or older 0.67*
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

55

Table 8.Odds ratio that children’s primary arrangements provided sick child care, adjusted for child and

family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995Continued

Characteristics Odds ratio

Primary arrangement type

Head Start center 2.27*

Non-Head Start center reference group

Family child care 18.05*

In-home child care 48.45*

Relative 51.32*

*Indicates that the odds compared with the reference group are statistically significant at .05 level.

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood

education program in which the child spent the most time per week. Model included controls for census region and urbanicity

of residence.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

were 50 percent more likely than those in two-parent families to be in a primary arrangement that

had a trained provider. This may result from such families being eligible for, and utilizing publicly

funded programs in centers, and may also be due to the lack of the father’s availability to provide

informal care.

The type of care that served as the child’s primary arrangement and the training of the care

provider were strongly related. Parents whose children were in family child care settings or under

the care of in-home providers or relatives as their primary arrangement were much less likely (95

to 99 percent) than parents of children cared for in non-Head Start centers to report that their

children’s care providers were trained in areas related to child development. Parents may be more

likely to assume that providers in centers have received training and that other providers have not.

One study comparing the reports of parents and providers about provider training found their reports to be similar (Willer et al. 1991). This suggests that parents were fairly well informed regarding the training of their children’s care providers. While on average, parent and provider

reports may be similar, this does not mean that parents can accurately report the training of their

own child’s care provider. Research has found that parents’ report of the level of training of their

own child’s provider does not always correspond with that of the provider (Hofferth et al. 1994).
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

56

Table 9.Odds ratio of living within 10 minutes of primary arrangement, adjusted for child and family

characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995

Characteristics Odds ratio

Age

2 or younger reference group

3–5 1.19*

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic reference group

Black, non-Hispanic 0.65*

Hispanic 0.80

Other, non-Hispanic 0.65*

Mother’s employment status

35 hours or more per week reference group

Less than 35 hours per week 0.91

Looking for work 0.92

Not in labor force 1.28*

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school reference group

High school 1.33

Some college 1.48*

College/graduate school 1.17

Household structure

Two parents reference group

One parent 1.24

Household income

$15,000 or less reference group

$15,001–25,000 0.98

$25,001–35,000 1.04

$35,001–50,000 1.07

More than $50,000 1.11

Household size

2–3 persons reference group

4 persons 1.09

5 persons 0.98

6 or more persons 1.15

Home language

English reference group

Not English 1.10

Disabling condition

None reference group

One or more 0.90

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 reference group

18–19 0.76

20 or older 0.83
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

57

Table 9.Odds ratio of living within 10 minutes of primary arrangement, adjusted for child and family

characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995—Continued

Characteristics Odds ratio

Primary arrangement type

Head Start center 0.64*

Non-Head Start center reference group

Family child care 1.16*

In-home child care 2.46

Relative 1.20

*Indicates that the odds compared with the reference group are statistically significant at .05 level.

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood

education program in which the child spent the most time per week. Model included controls for census region and urbanicity

of residence.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

Parental Involvement

Among children whose primary arrangements were center-based programs, older children

and black, non-Hispanic children were more likely than younger and white, non-Hispanic children,

respectively, to be in center-based primary arrangements in which parental involvement was encouraged (table 11). Children whose mothers were out of the work force were 91 percent more

likely than children whose mothers worked full time to spend most of their nonparental care time

in programs where parental involvement was encouraged. One risk factor was related to whether

a child’s center-based primary arrangement encouraged parental involvement: children in households of four persons were less likely than children from smaller households to be in a program

encouraging parental involvement. Finally, children whose primary arrangements were Head Start

programs were more likely than children whose primary arrangements were other center-based

programs to encourage the involvement of parents.

Whether Primary Nonparental Care Provider Spoke English

The primary nonparental care providers of Hispanic children, children of other non-black,

non-Hispanic racial–ethnic backgrounds, and children in a household whose primary language was

not English, were much less likely to speak English with them than the care providers of white,

non-Hispanic children and children in English-speaking households, respectively (table 12). These

differences are likely to reflect parental preferences for a care provider with the same cultural

background, particularly when their children are young. Also, these differences may reflect the
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

58

fact that child care is local, and neighborhood institutions reflect the ethnic and language characteristics of their residents. In contrast, the primary care providers of black, non-Hispanic children

were more likely than those of white, non-Hispanic children to speak English with them. Children

who spent most of their nonparental care time with family child care providers, in-home caregivers, and relatives were significantly less likely than children in non-Head Start center-based programs to have a provider who spoke English with them.

Table 10.Odds ratio of children’s primary arrangements having trained providers, adjusted for child and

family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995

Characteristics Odds ratio

Age

2 or younger reference group

3–5 0.99

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic reference group

Black, non-Hispanic 1.08

Hispanic 0.67*

Other, non-Hispanic 0.89

Mother’s employment status

35 hours or more per week reference group

Less than 35 hours per week 0.99

Looking for work 1.05

Not in labor force 1.31

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school reference group

High school 1.32

Some college 1.07

College/graduate school 1.37

Household structure

Two parents reference group

One parent 1.50*

Household income

$15,000 or less reference group

$15,001–25,000 0.99

$25,001–35,000 1.38

$35,001–50,000 1.04

More than 50,000 1.38

Household size

2–3 persons reference group

4 persons 0.85

5 persons 0.97

6 or more persons 0.93
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

59

Table 10.Odds ratio of children’s primary arrangements having trained providers, adjusted for child and

family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995Continued

Characteristics Odds ratio

Home language

English reference group

Not English 0.93

Disabling condition

None reference group

One or more 1.12

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 reference group

18–19 1.31

20 or older 1.05

Primary arrangement type

Head Start center 1.84

Non-Head Start center reference group

Family child care 0.05*

In-home child care 0.03*

Relative 0.01*

*Indicates that the odds compared with the reference group are statistically significant at .05 level.

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood

education program in which the child spent the most time per week. Model included controls for census region and urbanicity

of residence.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

SUMMARY

A few key family factors were consistently related to children’s primary nonparental care arrangements and the attributes of those arrangements. Age of the child was consistently associated

with arrangement attributes. For example, in programs used by parents of older versus younger

children, the cost of care was lower, child/staff ratios higher, number of services greater, the distance smaller, and parental involvement more frequently encouraged. Other factors, such as maternal employment, were closely related to attributes such as commute time from home and the

availability of sick child care. Moreover, the primary nonparental care providers of Hispanic children, children of other non-black, non-Hispanic racial–ethnic backgrounds, and children in a

household whose primary language was not English were much less likely to speak English with

them than the care providers of white, non-Hispanic children and children in English-speaking

households, respectively. Hispanic parents were less likely than white, non-Hispanic parents to

report that their provider was trained to care for children. Black, non-Hispanic parents were more
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

60

Table 11.Odds ratio that children’s primary center-based care arrangements encouraged parent involvement, adjusted for child and family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995

Characteristics Odds ratio

Age

2 or younger reference group

3–5 1.37*

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic reference group

Black, non-Hispanic 2.11*

Hispanic 1.21

Other, non-Hispanic 0.92

Mother’s employment status

35 hours or more per week reference group

Less than 35 hours per week 1.33

Looking for work 1.21

Not in labor force 1.91*

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school reference group

High school 1.07

Some college 0.90

College/graduate school 1.24

Household structure

Two parents reference group

One parent 0.91

Household income

$15,000 or less reference group

$15,001–25,000 1.12

$25,001–35,000 0.91

$35,001–50,000 1.02

More than $50,000 1.06

Household size

2–3 persons reference group

4 persons 0.72*

5 persons 1.09

6 or more persons 0.82

Home language

English reference group

Not English 1.63

Disabling condition

None reference group

One or more 1.32

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 reference group

18–19 1.17

20 or older 1.28
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

61

Table 11.Odds ratio that children’s primary center-based care arrangements encouraged parent involvement, adjusted for child and family characteristics and primary arrangement type: 1995 Continued

Characteristics Odds ratio

Primary arrangement type

Head Start center 4.62*

Non-Head Start center reference group

*Indicates that the odds compared with the reference group are statistically significant at .05 level.

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood

education program in which the child spent the most time per week. Model included controls for census region and urbanicity

of residence.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

likely to report having access to more services, including sick child care, and to be encouraged to

participate in their child’s program, but were less likely to live within 10 minutes of the provider.

With the exception of the cost of care, this study revealed few income-related differences in

the characteristics of children’s primary nonparental care arrangements. Parents with household

incomes of more than $50,000 did pay $0.58 more per hour for their children’s primary arrangement than did lower-income parents. However, children of lower income parents were more likely

to receive sick child care and received other services more than did children of higher income parents. Several other risk factors, such as having a disability, not speaking English at home, living in

a large household, and having a mother who had not earned a high school diploma, were also associated with receiving more services. When considering these characteristics alone, children at

greater risk of school failure received more services in their preschool programs than those at

lower risk.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

62

Table 12.Odds ratio that provider in children’s primary arrangements spoke English with the children

most of the time, adjusted for child and family characteristics and primary arrangement type:

1995

Characteristics Odds ratio

Age

2 or younger reference group

3–5 1.07

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic reference group

Black, non-Hispanic 2.49*

Hispanic 0.07*

Other, non-Hispanic 0.22*

Mother’s employment status

35 hours or more per week reference group

Less than 35 hours per week 1.27

Looking for work 0.80

Not in labor force 0.92

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school reference group

High school 1.37

Some college 0.87

College/graduate school 0.64

Household structure

Two parents reference group

One parent 1.22

Household income

$15,000 or less reference group

$15,001–25,000 1.57

$25,001–35,000 1.56

$35,001–50,000 1.23

More than $50,000 1.14

Household size

2–3 persons reference group

4 persons 0.92

5 persons 0.90

6 or more persons 0.90

Home language

English reference group

Not English 0.02*

Disabling condition

None reference group

One or more 0.89

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 reference group

18–19 1.13

20 or older 1.13
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

63

Table 12.Odds ratio that provider in children’s primary arrangements spoke English with the children

most of the time, adjusted for child and family characteristics and primary arrangement type:

1995 Continued

Characteristics Odds ratio

Primary arrangement type

Head Start center 0.77

Non-Head Start center reference group

Family child care 0.02*

In-home child care 0.01*

Relative 0.01∗

*Indicates that the odds compared with the reference group are statistically significant at .05 level.

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood

education program in which the child spent the most time per week. Model included controls for census region and urbanicity

of residence.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
3. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ARRANGEMENT CHOICES

64
65

Chapter 4. What Were Parents’ Sources of

Information and Preferences

Regarding Child Care Arrangements?

How do parents make decisions regarding the care and education that their young children

receive? The information that parents obtain regarding the availability of various types of child

care and the characteristics of those options influences their child care decisions. Furthermore, to

the extent that different kinds of parents have access to more or less information, their decisions

may differ. Therefore, this section first discusses parents’ sources of information regarding their

children’s care arrangements.

Second, because parents’ choices regarding their children’s care arrangements are constrained by the cost and availability of care as well as their information about alternatives, children’s care arrangements may not fully reflect what their parents would prefer. Therefore, in

order to understand what parents preferred, it is necessary to examine directly how important a

given child care characteristic was to parents when arranging for the care of their children. In particular, it is important to assess the relative importance to parents of child care characteristics that

are likely to affect the child’s development, as opposed to those that have more immediate impact

on the parent (e.g., cost). Do parents’ preferences vary with characteristics of their children and

families? In order to address these questions, this section continues by presenting results related to

parents’ preferences for various attributes of child care arrangements.

PARENTS’ INFORMATION REGARDING CHILD CARE

In order to determine how parents make their child care decisions, it is important to examine

how parents obtain information about the availability, cost, and characteristics of arrangements for

their children. Therefore, this section first discusses the sources of information—friends, employers, schools, churches, advertisements, agencies, referral services, and others—that parents turned

to, in order to learn about early childhood education programs and child care arrangements. This

section also discusses how parents differed in terms of the sources of information they used.

In addition to the sources of information mentioned above, parents may consider the cost of

child care itself an indication of the quality of care, reasoning that more expensive care must be

better for their children. This section, therefore, also examines whether parents would be justified

in making this assumption—that is, whether some of the characteristics of child care relating to
4. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND PREFERENCES

66

child development or parents’ needs or convenience are associated with parents’ reported expenditures for care.

Sources of Information About Child Care Alternatives

What sources of information about program availability and characteristics do parents have

available to them? The parents of 59 percent of children reported that friends, neighbors, relatives,

and coworkers were the source for learning about their child’s primary nonparental care arrangement (table 13). Ten percent mentioned newspaper or yellow pages advertisements; 6 percent

mentioned school; 5 percent mentioned a church or place of worship; 4 percent each mentioned

an employer and a welfare or social service agency; and 2 percent mentioned a resource and referral service. In addition, 16 percent of children’s parents’ sources fell into the unspecified “other”

category, which could include parents who already knew the care provider because another child

had used the program, and sources such as reference materials, public bulletin boards/flyers, doctors, other professionals, and other non-profit organizations. Sources of information reported by

parents differed somewhat by age of child, race–ethnicity, or maternal employment status. For

instance, the parents of 4- and 5-year-old children were more likely than the parents of younger

children to learn about the arrangement from school. Likewise, Hispanic parents were more likely

than white or black, non-Hispanic parents to have learned about their children’s programs from

school. In households where mothers were employed, parents were more likely to learn about

their child care arrangement from an employer than they were in households where mothers were

not in the labor force.

The Relationship Between the Cost of Child Care and Its Quality

If the price of a child care program is associated with its quality, then parents may be able to

use price to gauge a program’s quality. Is there a link between the quality of child care programs

and their cost? Figure 12 presents data on how expenditures for children’s primary care arrangements differed among arrangements with various characteristics related to quality, controlling for

child and family background characteristics, and the type of primary arrangement. These estimates

indicate whether parents paid more for care arrangements with characteristics that have been associated with better outcomes for children.22

 

22This standard economic technique, the hedonic price model, is used to determine the relative contribution of characteristics

or features to the price of a product or service. Cost is not the same as income; rather, it is the fee or price of the good or service. As we see in child care, parents tend to pay the same amount for child care, regardless of their incomes (GAO 1997).
Table 13.Of preschool children under 6 years old whose parents reported learning about their child’s primary arrangement from various sources of

information, by child and family characteristics: 1995

Characteristics

Number

of Friends Employer School Church Advertisement Agency 

Referral

 service Other r

children Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se

Total 9,050,000 59 1.1 4 0.4 6 0.5 5 0.4 10 0.7 4 0.4 2 0.3 16 0.9

Age

Less than 1 935,000 63 3.6 6 1.8 1 0.7 5 1.3 13 2.6 4 1.3 1 0.4 14 2.2

1 1,141,000 63 2.7 5 1.2 2 0.7 6 1.4 8 1.3 8 1.6 1 0.5 13 2.0

2 1,436,000 65 2.4 4 0.9 3 0.9 6 0.9 10 1.3 3 0.7 1 0.3 14 1.7

3 2,091,000 60 2.0 4 0.8 5 0.9 6 0.9 10 1.4 3 0.8 3 0.7 15 1.5

4 2,667,000 55 1.8 3 0.5 10 1.1 4 0.7 11 1.1 3 0.6 2 0.6 18 2.0

5 780,000 53 2.7 5 1.3 12 2.0 5 1.4 10 1.5 1 0.7 2 0.9 17 2.5

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic 6,552,000 61 1.2 4 0.5 5 0.5 5 0.6 10 0.8 4 0.4 2 0.3 15 1.0

Black, non-Hispanic 1,327,000 54 3.1 2 1.0 6 1.4 6 1.3 9 2.3 4 1.1 2 0.6 20 2.2

Hispanic 724,000 59 2.9 4 0.9 12 1.8 4 1.0 8 1.4 2 0.7 3 1.2 14 1.8

Other, non-Hispanic 446,000 62 5.0 5 2.1 8 2.4 3 1.3 12 3.4 4 1.5 2 1.0 14 3.0

Mother’s employment status

Currently employed 6,216,000 62 1.2 5 0.6 4 0.4 5 0.6 11 0.9 4 0.5 2 0.3 13 1.1

35 hours or more per

week

4,223,000 62 1.5 6 0.7 3 0.5 4 0.6 10 1.1 5 0.5 2 0.3 15 1.3

Less than 35 hours per

 week 1,992,000 63 2.0 5 0.7 6 1.0 7 1.0 12 1.6 4 1.0 1 0.4 9 1.1

Looking for work 448,000 45 5.5 0 0.0 9 2.7 3 1.7 12 4.4 5 2.3 2 1.4 27 4.5

Not in labor force 2,099,000 56 2.0 1 0.4 11 1.3 7 1.0 8 1.0 2 0.5 3 0.6 19 2.0

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. A child’s “primary arrangement” was

defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program in which the child spent the most time per week. Details may not sum to totals due to

rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, 1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
4. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND PREFERENCES

68

Figure 12.—Adjusted difference in expenditures for children’s primary arrangements, by selected characteristics of the primary arrangement: 1995

-0.50

0.00

0.50

1.00

Less than a

10-minute

commute

Each additional

service

Trained

provider

$0.21

-$0.21

$0.17

Dollars per hour

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for child’s age, race–ethnicity, and

household income, structure, and size; home language; type of primary nonparental care arrangement; and other characteristics

of the primary nonparental care arrangement. For noncenter-based care arrangements, parental involvement and number of

services were set to zero. For supporting data see appendix table 9.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.

Several characteristics were associated with parental expenditures for their children’s primary care arrangements. For instance, each health-related service offered by a primary arrangement was, on average, associated with a $0.21 lower cost per hour (figure 12). Parents also paid

$0.17 more per hour when the caregiver was trained. Although cost was not associated with a

lower ratio of children to staff or a provider who encouraged parental participation, care that was

close to home had a higher average cost ($0.21 per hour). Thus, it appears that the features of a

child care arrangement are only somewhat related to its cost. Provider training was the only child

care attribute that has been associated with positive outcomes for children and that was related to

higher expenditures by parents. This is consistent with the literature that shows a very weak relationship between the quality of care as defined by child psychologists and how much the care

costs (Helburn et al. 1995; Waite, Leibowitz, and Witsberger 1991).
4. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND PREFERENCES

69

THE IMPORTANCE OF CHILD CARE ATTRIBUTES IN PARENTS’ CHILD CARE

DECISIONS

Parents were asked whether each of the following child care attributes was very important

to them, somewhat important to them, or not important to them in making their child care decisions: a reasonable cost, a small number of children in the same class or group, a place close to

your home, a place where children will be cared for when they are sick, a caregiver who has special training in taking care of children, and a caregiver or teacher who speaks English with your

child.

This section focuses on whether or not the parent reported that the attribute was very important to them. With the exception of sick child care, the parents of more than half of preschoolers reported that each of these characteristics was very important in selecting a child care

arrangement (table 14). The parents of 84 percent of preschoolers said that it was important

whether the provider spoke English with the child. The parents of about three-quarters of preschoolers said that whether the provider was trained in taking care of children was important.

Having a small number of children in the same class or group was important to the parents of

more than two out of three preschoolers. Obtaining care at a reasonable cost was important to 64

percent of parents. Moreover, having a provider who was close to home was very important to

the parents of 57 percent of children.

A number of child and family characteristics, including the type of primary care arrangement

and parents’ sources of information about child care alternatives, were associated with the child

care characteristics that parents felt were very important in making their decisions. These are discussed below.

Type of Primary Arrangement

The characteristics that parents rated as important varied with the type of care that served as

the child’s primary arrangement. Parents of children enrolled in Head Start or cared for by relatives were most likely to rate the cost and the availability of sick child care as very important in

making their child care decision. In addition, parents of children in Head Start were the most

likely to rate closeness to home as very important, though their children were actually less likely

than those in non-Head Start center-based programs to be close to home (see p. 51). Parents who

used child care centers as the primary arrangement, were more likely to report whether a provider

was trained and whether English was spoken, than those using family child care or in-home care.

Those attributes were very important considerations in choosing a child care arrangement.
Table 14.Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old whose parents reported various characteristics to be very important in choosing a

nonparental care arrangement, by primary arrangement type, parents’ source of information about arrangements or programs, and child

and family characteristics: 1995

Characteristics Reasonable cost t

Small number

 of children Close to home

Sick child

 care available Trained provider English spoken

Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se

Total 64 0.9 68 0.9 57 1.0 49 0.9 77 0.7 84 0.7

Primary arrangement type

Total center-based 62 1.3 66 1.4 54 1.2 38 1.2 86 1.0 87 0.7

Head Start center 75 2.6 58 3.9 68 2.7 64 3.7 89 2.3 87 2.1

Non-Head Start center 60 1.4 67 1.4 52 1.3 34 1.3 86 1.0 87 0.8

Family child care 63 1.9 71 1.8 56 2.1 47 1.5 61 1.4 82 1.4

Sitter 54 4.7 74 3.3 67 5.2 49 4.0 60 4.6 78 3.5

Relative 70 1.6 68 1.5 62 1.9 67 1.6 76 1.4 83 1.1

Source of information

Friends 61 1.4 69 1.2 55 1.3 42 1.2 74 1.2 84 1.0

Employer 53 5.3 70 4.4 41 4.3 34 5.2 83 3.8 79 3.9

School 63 4.0 66 4.2 53 4.1 47 4.7 83 3.0 88 2.3

Church 61 4.1 77 3.4 54 4.1 36 4.3 69 4.1 88 3.0

Advertisement 62 3.4 68 3.1 55 4.1 34 3.0 82 2.4 87 1.7

Agency 59 6.1 69 5.6 58 5.2 41 5.8 78 4.5 80 3.5

Referral service 57 6.3 69 8.1 55 7.8 32 6.1 81 5.3 86 4.0

Other 66 2.6 67 2.8 56 3.3 42 2.6 85 2.2 85 2.1

Age

Less than 1 66 2.2 71 2.1 61 2.6 59 2.5 73 2.2 81 1.8

1 63 2.0 72 1.7 59 2.0 55 1.9 71 1.9 81 1.7

2 66 1.8 71 1.8 55 2.0 52 2.0 74 1.6 84 1.6

3 62 1.8 66 1.8 56 1.8 45 1.5 77 1.8 83 1.5

4 64 1.4 65 1.7 58 1.7 44 1.8 82 1.4 89 1.0

5 61 3.2 66 3.2 52 3.0 40 2.9 82 2.5 84 2.3

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic 58 1.2 69 1.0 53 1.3 39 1.1 73 1.0 86 0.8

Black, non-Hispanic 83 1.4 64 2.1 67 2.0 77 1.8 86 1.6 89 1.4

Hispanic 70 1.9 69 2.2 68 1.5 68 2.2 82 1.8 69 2.4

Other, non-Hispanic 67 2.8 68 4.1 56 3.9 50 3.7 80 3.0 75 3.3
Table 14.Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old whose parents reported various characteristics to be very important in choosing a

nonparental care arrangement, by primary arrangement type, parents’ source of information about arrangements or programs, and child

and family characteristics: 1995Continued

Characteristics Reasonable cost t

Small number

 of children Close to home

Sick child

 care available Trained provider English spoken

Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se

Mother’s employment status

Currently employed 63 1.0 69 0.9 57 1.3 49 1.2 75 0.8 85 0.7

35 hours or more per week 65 1.2 70 1.2 59 1.2 51 1.5 75 1.3 84 0.7

Less than 35 hours per

week

60 2.1 69 1.4 54 2.4 45 1.9 75 1.6 86 1.5

Looking for work 77 4.5 52 5.2 60 4.5 70 4.8 85 3.2 84 3.1

Not in labor force 61 2.2 68 2.1 55 2.0 42 2.0 81 1.8 85 1.7

Number of risk factors

None 55 1.1 71 1.1 52 1.6 37 1.2 73 1.2 86 0.9

One 66 1.7 69 1.5 56 1.8 50 1.9 78 1.6 81 1.3

Two or more 78 1.6 61 1.9 68 1.4 69 2.1 82 1.4 85 1.2

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. A child’s “primary arrangement”

was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program in which the child spent the most time per week.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, 1995, Early Childhood Program Participation

Component.
4. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND PREFERENCES

72

Source of Information

Families who received their information about child care options from an employer were less

likely than those who received their information from friends to report that the distance between

home and care was very important in making a child care decision. This might be because parents

who have access to care at the workplace may be less likely to consider the distance of the program from home to be important in selecting their child care arrangement.

Age

Parents’ preferences for the care of their children varied somewhat with their children’s age,

with most of the differences occurring between parents of infants and toddlers versus parents of

older children. Compared with parents of 4-year-olds, parents of 1-year-olds were more likely to

report that a low child/staff ratio was important to them. Also, parents of children under age 3

were more likely than parents of 4- and 5-year-olds to report that the availability of sick child care

was important to them, while parents of 4-year-olds were more likely than parents of children under age 3 to report that having a trained provider was very important to them. Finally, parents of

4-year-olds were more likely than parents of children under age 2 to report that having a provider

who spoke English was very important when selecting a child care arrangement.

Maternal Employment

Employed mothers were less likely to report that reasonable cost was a very important characteristics of a child care arrangement than were mothers who were looking for work. Moreover,

employed mothers were less likely than those who were not employed to report that finding a

trained child care provider and the availability of sick child care were important.

Race–Ethnicity

Parents of black, non-Hispanic and Hispanic children were more likely than parents of white,

non-Hispanic children to report that the cost of care and the availability of a trained provider were

very important in selecting a child care arrangement. They were also more likely than parents of

white, non-Hispanic children to be concerned about the availability of sick child care.

Risk Factors

Previous sections of this report have focused on how separate risk factors are associated

with parental preferences for the care of their children. This section provides a summary of these
4. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND PREFERENCES

73

findings by using an index of risk factors, which gives a point for each risk factor a family has.

Parents of children with no risk factors were less concerned than parents of children with any risk

factors about finding care at reasonable cost, that provided sick child care, and that had a trained

provider. Furthermore, parents of children with no risk factors or only one risk factor were less

concerned than parents of children with two or more risk factors about finding care that was close

to home. However, parents of children with no risk factors or a single risk factor were more concerned than parents of children with two or more risk factors about the number of children cared

for at the same time.

SUMMARY

Parents’ primary sources of information about the availability and characteristics of their

children’s primary care arrangements were informal. Almost 60 percent of parents reported that

friends were the major source for learning about their children’s primary care arrangement.

Can price serve as an indicator of programs of higher quality? It appears that the characteristics of a child care arrangement are only somewhat related to its cost. Because programs that are

subsidized are more likely than those that are not to provide services, services were found to be

associated with a lower, rather than a higher, price of care. Provider training was the only child

care attribute associated with positive outcomes for children that was related to higher expenditures by parents.

Factors influencing parental decisions regarding the type and characteristics of care were

tied to the age of the child, maternal employment, and a number of economic and social risk factors. In addition, the factors that parents ranked as most important varied by the age of the child.

For example, parents of younger children reported that a small group size and sick child care were

important in choosing an arrangement, whereas parents of older children reported that the provider’s training and speaking English with their children were important considerations. Employed

mothers were less likely to report that the cost of care, the availability of a trained provider, and

the availability of care for sick children were important considerations. Finally, parents of children

with two or more risk factors were more likely than parents of children with no risk factors to be

concerned about cost, proximity to home, sick child care, and the training of the provider. They

were less likely to be concerned about the number of children cared for at the same time, however.
4. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND PREFERENCES

74
75

Chapter 5. Were Parents’ Preferences Related

to the Attributes of the Child Care

Arrangements They Selected?

If parents are well informed about the characteristics of their children’s arrangements and

their preferences are as salient in their decision making as they report them to be, then one would

expect a significant relationship between their preferences and the characteristics of their children’s care arrangements. This chapter examines how parents’ reported preferences regarding

their children’s care that were related to the characteristics of their children’s primary arrangements.

This analysis relates each of the six parental preferences—reasonable cost, small number of

children, proximity of child care to home, availability of sick child care, having a trained provider,

and having English spoken most of the time—to the corresponding characteristic of their children’s primary arrangements—cost, child/staff ratio, whether care was less than 10 minutes from

home, availability of sick child care, and whether the provider was trained in child development

and spoke English—while controlling for child and family characteristics. Because child care

characteristics come bundled in a package rather than separately, the type of primary child care

arrangement was included in a second analysis for each child care characteristic. In general, if parents reported a characteristic to be very important, their children’s primary arrangements were

likely to have that characteristic. The remainder of this chapter examines each of the six child care

characteristics in turn.

CHILD/STAFF RATIO

Children of parents who reported that the number of children cared for at the same time was

very important to them were more likely to be in primary arrangements with smaller child/staff

ratios than were other children (figure 13). However, the relationship between parents’ preference

for a smaller number of children and the child/staff ratio of the child’s primary arrangement was

no longer statistically significant once the type of arrangement was included in the model. This

suggests that parents who strongly preferred that their child be cared for with a smaller number of

children tended to select a care arrangement with a small child/staff ratio (such as family child care

or in-home care).
5. PARENTS’ PREFERENCES AND CHILD CARE ATTRIBUTES

76

Figure 13.—Adjusted difference in child/staff ratio of children’s primary arrangement, for preschool children under 6 years old whose parents preferred a smaller number of children: 1995

-0.28

-0.16

-0.5

0

0.5

Not controlling for primary

arrangement type

Controlling for primary

arrangement type

Child/staff ratio

-0.28

-0.16 (n.s.)

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; employment status; region and urbanicity of residence; educational attainment; household income and structure; home language;

child’s disability status; and age at first birth; and other parental preferences. For supporting data see appendix table 10. In this

figure, “n.s” indicates that the estimate is not statistically significant at the 0.05 significance level.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
5. PARENTS’ PREFERENCES AND CHILD CARE ATTRIBUTES

77

SICK CHILD CARE

Parents to whom sick child care was very important were more likely to choose a primary

arrangement in which care for sick children was available, than were those to whom sick child

care was less important (figure 14). Furthermore, this relationship persisted when type of arrangement was controlled, suggesting that the relationship was not due to the fact that such parents were more likely to select an informal arrangement in which sick child care was likely to be

available (as shown above).

Figure 14.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement provided sick child care,

for preschool children under 6 years old whose parents preferred having such care: 1995

240

209

-100

0

100

200

300

Not

controlling

for primary

arrangment

Controlling

for primary

arrangement

type

Percent difference in odds

Not controlling 

for primary

arrangement type

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; employment status; region and urbanicity of residence; educational attainment; household income and structure; home language;

child’s disability status; and age at first birth; and other parental preferences. For supporting data see appendix table 10.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
5. PARENTS’ PREFERENCES AND CHILD CARE ATTRIBUTES

78

PROXIMITY TO THE PROVIDER

Parents who reported that being close to the provider was very important were more likely

than those to whom distance was less important to have chosen a provider that was nearby (figure

15). Moreover, this relationship held when type of arrangement was controlled, suggesting that

the relationship was not due to the fact that such parents were less likely to select a Head Start

program (shown above).

Figure 15.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the primary arrangement was within 10 minutes

from home, for preschool children under 6 years old whose parents preferred having child care

close to home: 1995

157 158

-100

0

100

200

300

Not

controlling

for primary

arrangement

Controlling

for primary

arrangement

type

Not controlling

for primary

arrangement

type

Percent difference in odds

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; employment status; region and urbanicity of residence; educational attainment; household income and structure; home language;

child’s disability status; and age at first birth; and other parental preferences. For supporting data see appendix table 10.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
5. PARENTS’ PREFERENCES AND CHILD CARE ATTRIBUTES

79

PROVIDER TRAINING

Parents to whom the training of the provider was very important were more likely to select

an arrangement with a trained provider for their child than were those to whom training was less

important (figure 16). This relationship also held when type of arrangement was controlled.

Figure 16.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the care provider in the primary arrangement had

training, for preschool children under 6 years old whose parents preferred having a trained

provider: 1995

430 441

-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

1 Controlling

for primary

arrangement

type

Not controlling 

for primary 

arrangement type

Percent difference in odds

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; employment status; region and urbanicity of residence; educational attainment; household income and structure; home language;

child’s disability status; and age at first birth; and other parental preferences. For supporting data see appendix table 10.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
5. PARENTS’ PREFERENCES AND CHILD CARE ATTRIBUTES

80

PROVIDER USE OF ENGLISH

Parents who reported whether the care provider spoke English most of the time was very

important to them were more likely than other parents to choose a primary child care arrangement

in which English was spoken with their children (figure 17). This relationship also held when type

of arrangement was controlled.

Figure 17.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that the care provider in the primary arrangement

spoke English with the child most of the time, for preschoolers under 6 years old whose parents

preferred an English-speaking care provider: 1995

226 231

-100

0

100

200

300

Not controlling for

primary arrangement

type

Controlling for

primary arrangement

type

Percent difference in odds

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; employment status; region and urbanicity of residence; educational attainment; household income and structure; home language;

child’s disability status; and age at first birth; and other parental preferences. For supporting data see appendix table 10.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
5. PARENTS’ PREFERENCES AND CHILD CARE ATTRIBUTES

81

COST OF CARE

Finally, there was no association between rating the cost of care as very important and paying less for care, adjusting for other factors (not shown). This might be because most parents

want child care at a reasonable cost, but the definition of “reasonable cost” varies substantially

among parents. In addition, parents cannot control the cost to match what they want to pay.
5. PARENTS’ PREFERENCES AND CHILD CARE ATTRIBUTES

82
83

Chapter 6. Were Parents’ Preferences Related

to the Types of Arrangements They

Selected?

If parents’ preferences really influence their decisionmaking regarding the care of their children, these preferences should be linked to their children’s child care arrangements. However,

parents are somewhat limited in their abilities to apply preferences to child care decisions because

child care attributes come bundled in packages called arrangements or programs, as discussed

previously. The characteristics that are associated with any given type of care may be satisfactory

for some children, but not for others; for example, professional standards permit higher child/staff

ratios for older children than for infants in center-based programs (Hayes et al. 1990). As a consequence, parents have to put a premium or priority on certain attributes and downplay others

when they select their children’s arrangements. Therefore, it is important to examine which preferences for child care attributes are most related to the types of care that parents actually select.

This chapter examines the difference in the odds that a child’s primary arrangement was

family child care or relative care versus center-based care, given his or her parents’ preference for

a particular child care characteristic. Because parents’ preferences for attributes of arrangements

were not significantly related to children’s enrollment in Head Start versus other center-based

programs, the comparison category is all center-based programs. In addition, parents’ preferences

were not associated with choosing in-home care relative to center-based care, controlling for

other child and family characteristics, and are not reported here (see table A11).

FAMILY CHILD CARE

Parental preferences for trained caregivers and sick child care were related to parents’

choice of family child care versus center-based care as their children’s primary arrangement (figure 18). Children for whom family child care was the primary arrangement were less likely than

children whose primary arrangements were center-based programs to have caregivers trained in

child development. Consistent with this result, children of parents who said that having a trained

child care provider was very important were less likely than other children to be cared for in family child care versus center-based care most of the time they were in nonparental care. Consistent

with the fact that family child care providers are more likely to provide sick child care than are
6. PARENTS’ PREFERENCES AND TYPES OF ARRANGEMENTS

84

centers, those children whose parents preferred sick child care were more likely than other children to be cared for in family child care versus center-based care for most of their nonparental

care time.

Figure 18.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that a child’s primary arrangement was family day care

versus a center-based program, for preschool children under 6 years old whose parents preferred having sick child care and a trained care provider: 1995

-100

-80

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

Prefer sick child 

care

Prefer a trained 

provider

95

-78

Percent difference in odds

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; employment status; region and urbanicity of residence; educational attainment; household income and structure; home language;

child’s disability status; and age at first birth; and other parental preferences. For supporting data see appendix table 10.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
6. PARENTS’ PREFERENCES AND TYPES OF ARRANGEMENTS

85

RELATIVE CARE

Consistent with the greater availability of sick child care among children whose primary arrangements were relative care (table 3), parents to whom sick child care was very important were

more likely than other parents to use relative care versus a child care center as their primary arrangement (figure 19). Similarly, parents of children whose primary arrangement was relative care

were the least likely to report that their children’s care provider was trained in child development

(table 3). In addition, children of parents to whom having a trained provider was very important

were less likely than other children to be cared for by a relative than in a center-based arrangement during most of their time in nonparental care.

Figure 19.—Adjusted percent difference in the odds that a child’s primary arrangement was relative care

versus a center-based program, for preschool children under 6 years old whose parents preferred having sick child care and a trained care provider: 1995

-73

223

-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

Percent difference

in odds

Prefer sick child 

care

Prefer a trained 

provider

Note: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. Difference adjusted for age of child; race–ethnicity; employment status; region and urbanicity of residence; educational attainment; household income and structure; home language;

child’s disability status; and age at first birth; and other parental preferences. For supporting data see appendix table 10.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
6. PARENTS’ PREFERENCES AND TYPES OF ARRANGEMENTS

86

SUMMARY

Children whose parents wanted a trained child care provider tended to spend most of their

nonparental care time in center-based programs versus family child care or relative care. The

value parents place on the training of their child care provider may be an important factor in

making decisions about their children’s care. A second important factor is the value parents place

on the availability of care for a mildly ill child. Children whose parents reported that care for a

mildly ill child was important in their child care decisionmaking were more likely to have relatives

or family child care providers, rather than center-based programs as their primary arrangements.

While these findings suggest that parental preferences influence the choice or use of early care and

education arrangements for their children, it may also be that parents justify using the arrangements they have chosen. We cannot determine based upon our data which is the correct interpretation of these results.

Parental preferences were not associated with their children’s enrollment in Head Start versus other center-based programs. Rather parental characteristics and eligibility criteria were more

important. That is, factors associated with enrollment in Head Start are not parental preferences

but, instead, the characteristics that make them eligible according to program criteria.
87

Chapter 7. Summary and Conclusions

This report has examined the early childhood education programs and nonparental care arrangements that parents selected for their preschool children in 1995. It has also examined the

sources of information that parents use in making child care decisions and whether the cost of

care can help parents easily recognize a quality program. Finally, it has explored what parents said

was important to them when making their child care decisions and how those preferences fit with

the care they actually purchased for their children. This final chapter addresses a number of key

questions arising from the analyses conducted here. Were children at greater risk of school failure

in lower quality care than children at lower risk? Did parents value child care characteristics associated with positive child development? Has research in child care included child care characteristics that parents value? Does the price parents pay for child care indicate the quality of the care

their children actually receive?

WERE CHILDREN AT GREATER RISK OF SCHOOL FAILURE IN LOWER

QUALITY CARE?

Compared with children who did not have various characteristics associated with school

failure, children who had these characteristics spent more time in nonparental care and were more

likely to be in multiple care arrangements. There is no simple relationship between amount of time

in arrangements and child development. In fact, based upon the characteristics measured in this

study, children from high-risk families were in programs that provided more services than the

programs children from low-risk families were in. Adjusting for various child and family characteristics and arrangement type, children from low-income families were more likely to have sick

child care and to receive more services from their primary arrangements than children from highincome families. Several other risk factors, such as having a disability, not speaking English at

home, being from a large family, and having a mother who had not completed a high school diploma, were also associated with receiving more services. Therefore, when taking these characteristics into account, children at greater risk of school failure received more services than did

those at lower risk. No differences in the child/staff ratio or training of children’s care provider

were associated with being from a high-risk family.
7. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

88

DID PARENTS VALUE QUALITY WHEN CHOOSING CHILD CARE?

Parents’ preferences for child care characteristics were consistent with child development

experts’ opinions on the characteristics that matter to children’s development. For instance, parents were less likely to report that distance from home was more important than having their children cared for by a trained provider and with a small number of children.

The cost of child care was almost as important as the number of children cared for in the

same group or class, however. In addition, although parents said that small groups were very important, the relationship between their preference for a small number of children and the child/staff

ratio in the child’s care arrangement was relatively weak. When the effect of ratio was confounded with type of program, the relationship was significant. After arrangement type was controlled, however, the relationship between preference for a small number of children and

child/staff ratio in the child’s arrangement declined and was no longer statistically significant.

There was little variation in the child/staff ratio among child care centers, and it may be difficult

for parents to assess the child/staff ratio of center-based programs. Furthermore, other research

has failed to find family characteristics that are associated with the differences in child/staff ratios

among children’s center-based programs or among family child care homes (Blau 1991).

In contrast, children of parents who reported that having a trained provider was important in

choosing their children’s care arrangements were more likely to be in arrangements with a trained

provider. This suggests either that provider training is salient when parents make child care arrangements or that parents use characteristics to justify their choice ex post facto.

ARE THE CHILD CARE CHARACTERISTICS THAT PARENTS PERCEIVE AS

IMPORTANT ADEQUATELY MEASURED IN CURRENT RESEARCH?

Previous research has focused primarily on examining whether the arrangements parents

choose reflect their preferences for low child/staff ratios and trained providers. This study found

that a variety of other child care characteristics were related to parents’ choices concerning their

children’s primary arrangements. These characteristics include the distance between home and

care, whether sick child care was available, the cost of care, and whether English was spoken

most of the time.

Given this new information, future research should look for other characteristics that both

the previous research and this study have missed. What professionals think is important may not

be what parents want. For example, one factor that parents report to be important to them but

that is difficult to measure is the quality of the relationship between the child care provider and the
7. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

89

child (Hofferth, Brayfield, Deich, and Holcomb 1991). Another characteristic that new research

has found to be related to parental choices is the flexibility of the arrangement (Emlen 1997). Unless studies of nonparental child care and child development include aspects that parents consider

important such as convenience and price, the picture of the relative importance of different aspects of care to what parents choose for their children will be incomplete. Similarly, demographic

or economic studies of child care should include aspects of the relationship between the child and

the care provider.

CAN PARENTS USE PRICE AS AN INDICATOR OF CHILD CARE QUALITY?

On the basis of the characteristics of programs examined in this study, it would be difficult

to determine the features of a program based on cost alone. Parents may think that if they pay

more, they will obtain a better program. However, the research described in this report found inconsistent relationships between what parents paid for their primary arrangements and various

child care characteristics associated with positive outcomes for children. For instance, there was

no relationship between the child/staff ratio and the cost of care, although parents did pay more

for their primary child care arrangement when it had a trained provider. In general, center-based

programs have consistently higher ratios of children to staff than do other early care and education arrangements; yet they are more likely to have trained providers.

There are many types of center-based programs, including programs such as Head Start,

that are free of charge to low-income children as well as very expensive programs used by high

income families. Having a high ratio of children to staff may indicate a high quality (and thus

oversubscribed) program, or it may indicate the program’s lack of concern about providing children with individualized attention. Thus, parents could not consistently identify a quality program

by the price of care. Training was the sole indicator of quality that was linked with greater parental expenditures for child care.

One policy implication of this report is that parents need more information about child care

options and about the quality of those options. Informal networks, such as friends, were the major

source of parents’ information. Few parents reported receiving information from formal sources

such as agencies or resource and referral associations. Parents appear to desire characteristics that

early childhood experts associate with positive child development; however, they cannot always

translate preferences into program characteristics. Additional research is needed to determine the

extent to which supply factors limit parental choices.
7. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

90
91

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Appendix A: Supplemental Tables
Table A1.Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to number of hours per week in nonparental care and

average hours per week in nonparental care, by child and family characteristics: 1995

 Number of hours per week in nonparental care e

Demographic characteristics Number of

 0 hours

 (parental

 care only) . 1–14 hours . 15–24 hours.s 25–34 hours .s

 35 or more

 hours s

Average

hours1

children Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Average se

Total 21,414,000 41 0.9 15 0.5 8 0.4 8 0.4 28 0.8 30 0.3

Age of child

Less than 1 4,158,000 56 1.6 8 1.0 7 0.7 6 0.9 23 1.5 31 0.9

1 4,027,000 51 1.7 9 0.8 7 0.8 6 0.6 26 1.5 32 0.7

2 4,007,000 47 1.6 13 0.9 6 0.7 7 0.6 27 1.2 30 0.6

3 4,123,000 33 1.9 18 1.1 10 0.9 8 0.9 31 1.4 29 0.5

4 4,061,000 23 1.3 25 1.2 11 0.8 10 0.9 31 1.2 28 0.5

5 1,038,000 16 1.8 25 2.3 11 1.7 14 1.8 32 3.0 28 1.1

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic 13,996,000 39 1.1 18 0.7 9 0.5 8 0.5 26 0.9 28 0.4

Black, non-Hispanic 3,338,000 35 2.1 9 1.2 7 0.9 9 1.1 40 1.8 36 0.8

Hispanic 2,838,000 54 1.7 12 1.0 7 1.1 6 0.8 21 1.4 31 0.7

Other, non-Hispanic 1,243,000 43 3.0 13 1.7 8 1.7 6 1.2 30 2.6 33 1.2

Mother’s employment status

Currently employed 11,002,000 18 0.8 14 0.7 11 0.6 11 0.6 46 1.1 33 0.4

35 hours or more per

 week 7,018,000

13 0.8 8 0.6 6 0.6 9 0.6 65 1.3 38 0.4

Less than 35 hours

 per week 3,983,000

27 1.6 24 1.5 20 1.3 16 1.3 13 1.1 23 0.5

Looking for work 1,615,000 58 3.1 12 1.5 6 1.2 9 1.7 14 1.8 26 1.1

Not in labor force 8,150,000 69 1.1 18 0.9 5 0.5 3 0.4 5 0.5 18 0.6

Region

Northeast 4,275,000 44 1.6 19 1.2 8 1.0 8 0.9 21 1.5 26 0.6

Midwest 7,149,000 35 1.3 11 0.7 7 0.6 8 0.7 38 1.3 34 0.5

South 5,287,000 39 1.7 17 1.0 10 0.9 9 0.9 26 1.4 29 0.6

West 4,703,000 48 1.7 16 1.2 9 0.8 7 0.8 20 1.2 27 0.6
Table A1.Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to number of hours per week in nonparental care and

average hours per week in nonparental care, by child and family characteristics: 1995Continued

 Number of hours per week in nonparental care e

Demographic characteristics Number of

 0 hours

 (parental

 care only) . 1–14 hours . 15–24 hours.s 25–34 hours .s

 35 or more

 hours s

Average

hours1

children Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Average se

Urban

Nonmetropolitan 5,015,000 39 2.0 16 1.0 8 0.8 8 0.9 29 1.7 30 0.6

Metropolitan 16,400,000 41 0.8 15 0.6 9 0.4 8 0.5 27 0.7 30 0.3

Mother in household

No 648,000 39 4.3 10 2.1 6 1.9 8 2.2 36 3.7 37 1.8

Yes 20,766,000 41 0.9 15 0.5 8 0.4 8 0.4 28 0.8 30 0.3

Risk factors

Mother’s educational

 attainment

Less than high school 3,767,000 59 1.9 9 0.9 6 0.8 7 1.0 19 1.1 31 0.7

High school 7,182,000 44 1.3 15 0.7 8 0.7 7 0.6 26 1.1 29 0.5

Some college 5,106,000 34 1.7 17 1.1 10 0.8 8 0.7 31 1.3 30 0.5

College/graduate school 4,711,000 29 1.4 19 1.1 9 0.8 9 0.8 34 1.5 29 0.5

Household structure

Two parents 15,732,000 43 1.0 17 0.6 8 0.5 7 0.4 24 0.9 27 0.4

One parent 5,276,000 34 1.5 9 0.8 8 0.8 9 0.9 40 1.3 36 0.5

Household income

$15,000 or less 6,016,000 50 1.7 11 0.7 8 0.8 9 0.9 23 1.1 31 0.5

$15,001–25,000 2,991,000 50 1.9 12 1.3 7 0.8 6 0.8 25 1.8 31 1.1

$25,001–35,000 3,235,000 42 2.0 14 1.0 8 0.9 7 0.9 28 1.7 30 0.6

$35,001–50,000 3,899,000 39 1.5 19 1.5 8 0.7 6 0.6 28 1.7 28 0.8

More than $50,000 5,274,000 26 1.4 20 1.0 10 0.8 10 0.7 34 1.4 29 0.5

In poverty

Yes 5,737,000 37 0.8 17 0.6 9 0.4 8 0.5 30 0.9 30 0.5

No 15,677,000 52 1.9 11 0.8 8 0.9 9 0.9 21 1.2 30 0.4
Table A1.Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to number of hours per week in nonparental care and

average hours per week in nonparental care, by child and family characteristics: 1995Continued

 Number of hours per week in nonparental care e

Demographic characteristics Number of

 0 hours

 (parental

 care only) . 1–14 hours . 15–24 hours.s 25–34 hours .s

 35 or more

 hours s

Average

hours1

children Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Average se

Household size

2–3 persons 6,176,000 34 1.0 12 0.8 8 0.6 10 0.8 36 1.1 33 0.5

4 persons 8,016,000 38 1.2 17 0.8 9 0.6 9 0.6 28 1.2 29 0.5

5 persons 4,046,000 46 1.7 19 1.3 9 1.0 6 0.8 20 1.4 26 0.7

6 or more persons 3,177,000 54 3.0 14 1.1 6 0.9 4 0.9 22 2.3 31 1.1

Home language

English 18,813,000 39 1.0 16 0.5 9 0.4 8 0.5 28 0.9 30 0.3

Non English 1,954,000 62 2.2 10 1.3 6 1.3 4 0.7 19 1.7 30 1.0

Disabling condition

None 19,551,000 42 0.9 15 0.5 8 0.4 8 0.5 28 0.8 30 0.3

One or more 1,863,000 34 2.7 18 1.4 11 1.5 9 1.2 28 2.0 30 0.8

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 2,554,000 46 2.5 9 0.9 9 1.5 9 1.5 27 2.0 34 1.1

18–19 3,066,000 49 1.9 12 1.1 8 0.9 7 1.0 23 1.5 30 0.9

20 years or older 15,147,000 38 1.0 17 0.6 8 0.5 8 0.5 28 0.8 29 0.4

Number of risk factors

None 9,533,000 36 0.9 19 0.8 9 0.6 8 0.5 28 1.0 28 0.4

One 4,979,000 39 1.5 15 0.9 7 0.7 8 0.8 31 1.5 30 0.6

Two or more 6,903,000 49 1.6 10 0.7 8 0.7 8 0.8 25 1.1 32 0.6

1Mean hours per week in nonparental care among preschool children enrolled in nonparental care arrangements.

NOTE: Percentages may not sum to 100 and details may not sum to totals due to rounding or cell suppression.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, 1995, Early Childhood Program Participation

Component.
99

Table A2.Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to number of nonparental care arrangements, by child and family characteristics: 1995

 Number of nonparental care arrangements

s

Demographic characteristics Number of None

e

 One e Two or more e

children Percent se Percent se Percent se

Total 21,414,000 41 0.9 47 0.8 12 0.4

Age

Less than 1 4,158,000 56 1.6 38 1.6 6 0.9

1 4,027,000 51 1.7 42 1.7 7 0.9

2 4,007,000 47 1.6 46 1.5 7 0.8

3 4,123,000 33 1.9 52 1.8 15 1.0

4 4,061,000 23 1.3 55 1.4 22 1.1

5 1,038,000 16 1.8 59 2.6 25 2.5

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic 13,996,000 39 1.1 48 1.1 13 0.5

Black, non-Hispanic 3,338,000 35 2.1 50 2.1 15 1.1

Hispanic 2,838,000 54 1.7 39 1.7 7 0.7

Other, non-Hispanic 1,243,000 43 3.0 47 2.8 10 1.6

Mother’s employment status

Currently employed 11,002,000 18 0.8 63 0.9 19 0.7

35 hours or more per week 7,018,000 13 0.8 68 1.0 20 0.9

Less than 35 hours per week 3,983,000 27 1.6 54 1.6 19 0.9

Looking for work 1,615,000 58 3.1 38 3.1 4 1.0

Not in labor force 8,150,000 69 1.1 28 1.0 4 0.4

Region

Northeast 4,275,000 44 1.6 44 1.5 12 0.8

Midwest 7,149,000 35 1.3 52 1.2 12 0.6

South 5,287,000 39 1.7 47 1.6 14 1.0

West 4,703,000 48 1.7 42 1.6 10 0.8

Urban

Nonmetropolitan 5,015,000 39 2.0 48 1.9 13 1.0

Metropolitan 16,400,000 41 0.8 47 0.9 12 0.5

Mother in household

No 648,000 39 4.3 47 4.3 13 2.4

Yes 20,766,000 41 0.9 47 0.9 12 0.4

Risk factors

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school 3,767,000 59 1.9 33 2.0 7 1.1

High school 7,182,000 44 1.3 45 1.1 11 0.7

Some college 5,106,000 34 1.7 52 1.6 14 0.7

College/graduate school 4,711,000 29 1.4 55 1.6 16 1.1

Household structure

Two parents 15,732,000 43 1.0 47 1.0 10 0.5

One parent 5,276,000 34 1.5 48 1.6 18 1.1
100

Table A2.Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to number of nonparental care arrangements, by child and family characteristics: 1995—Continued

 Number of nonparental care arrangements

s

Demographic characteristics Number of None

e

 One e Two or more e

children Percent se Percent se Percent se

Household income

$15,000 or less 6,016,000 50 1.7 39 1.8 11 1.0

$15,001–25,000 2,991,000 50 1.9 40 1.9 10 1.3

$25,001–35,000 3,235,000 42 2.0 47 1.8 11 0.9

$35,001–50,000 3,899,000 39 1.5 49 1.4 12 0.9

More than $50,000 5,274,000 26 1.4 59 1.5 15 0.9

In poverty

Yes 5,737,000 52 1.9 38 1.9 10 1.0

No 15,677,000 37 0.8 50 0.8 13 0.4

Household size

2–3 persons 6,176,000 34 1.0 53 1.1 13 0.8

4 persons 8,016,000 38 1.2 48 1.2 14 0.6

5 persons 4,046,000 46 1.7 44 1.7 10 0.9

6 or more persons 3,177,000 54 3.0 37 2.4 9 1.2

Home language

English 18,813,000 39 1.0 48 1.0 13 0.5

Non English 1,954,000 62 2.2 34 2.0 4 0.8

Disabling condition

None 19,551,000 42 0.9 47 0.9 12 0.4

One or more 1,863,000 34 2.7 49 2.4 17 1.7

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 2,554,000 46 2.5 41 2.7 13 1.5

18–19 3,066,000 49 1.9 41 1.7 10 1.1

20 or older 15,147,000 38 1.0 49 1.0 12 0.5

Number of risk factors

None 9,533,000 36 0.9 53 1.0 12 0.5

One 4,979,000 39 1.5 48 1.4 13 1.0

Two or more 6,903,000 49 1.6 39 1.6 12 1.0

NOTE: Percentages may not sum to 100 and details may not sum to totals due to rounding or cell suppression.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
Table A3.Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to type of primary nonparental care arrangement, by child

and family characteristics: 1995

 Percentage distribution by type of primary nonparental care arrangement t

Demographic characteristics

 None (parental

 care only) d

 Family

 child care d Sitter

r

 Relative r Head Start

r

 Other

 center-based d

 All

 center-based d

Percent se* Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se

Total 41 0.9 13 0.6 3 0.2 17 0.5 3 0.2 23 0.5 26 0.5

Age

Less than 1 56 1.6 14 1.0 3 0.5 21 1.2 0 — 6 0.9 6 0.9

1 51 1.7 15 1.0 3 0.5 20 1.2 0 — 10 0.8 10 0.8

2 47 1.6 15 1.2 4 0.6 17 1.0 0 — 17 0.8 17 0.8

3 33 1.9 13 1.1 3 0.6 17 1.2 4 0.5 31 1.3 35 1.4

4 23 1.3 9 0.9 2 0.4 11 0.8 10 0.8 44 1.5 55 1.4

5 16 1.8 9 1.5 2 0.6 8 1.7 12 2.1 52 2.4 64 2.6

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic 39 1.1 15 0.8 4 0.4 14 0.6 2 0.2 26 0.7 28 0.7

Black, non-Hispanic 35 2.1 9 1.0 1 0.3 25 1.6 8 0.8 21 1.6 29 1.8

Hispanic 54 1.7 8 0.8 2 0.4 20 1.2 4 0.6 11 0.9 15 0.9

Other, non-Hispanic 43 3.0 9 1.6 2 0.8 21 2.6 4 1.4 20 2.5 25 2.5

Mother’s employment status

Currently employed 18 0.8 22 0.9 4 0.4 26 0.8 2 0.2 28 0.7 30 0.7

 35 hours or more per

 week 13 0.8 24 1.1 4 0.4 27 1.0 3 0.3 29 0.9 32 0.8

 Less than 35 hours per

 week 27 1.6 18 1.3 4 0.7 23 1.5 2 0.4 26 1.3 28 1.4

Looking for work 58 3.1 3 0.7 0 0.2 14 1.8 6 1.1 18 2.7 24 2.9

Not in labor force 69 1.1 3 0.4 2 0.3 6 0.5 3 0.4 18 0.7 21 0.8

Region

Northeast 44 1.6 9 0.9 4 0.6 17 1.1 3 0.5 23 1.1 26 1.2

Midwest 35 1.3 12 0.9 2 0.3 19 0.9 4 0.4 28 1.0 32 1.0

South 39 1.7 18 1.4 3 0.5 17 1.1 3 0.5 20 1.2 23 1.3

West 48 1.7 12 0.9 4 0.7 14 1.1 2 0.4 20 0.9 22 1.0

Urban

Nonmetropolitan 39 2.0 15 1.1 2 0.5 18 1.3 3 0.5 22 1.2 26 1.3

Metropolitan 41 0.8 12 0.5 3 0.3 17 0.6 3 0.2 23 0.5 27 0.6
Table A3.Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to type of primary nonparental care arrangement, by child

and family characteristics: 1995—Continued

 Percentage distribution by type of primary nonparental care arrangement t

Demographic characteristics

 None (parental

 care only) d

 Family

 child care d Sitter

r

 Relative r Head Start

r

 Other

 center-based d

 All

 center-based d

Percent se* Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se

Mother in household

No 39 4.3 10 2.1 5 1.8 16 2.4 9 2.1 21 3.1 30 3.3

Yes 41 0.9 13 0.6 3 0.3 17 0.5 3 0.2 23 0.6 26 0.6

Risk factors

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school 59 1.9 6 1.0 1 0.4 18 1.3 6 0.7 10 1.3 16 1.4

High school 44 1.3 13 0.9 2 0.3 19 1.0 4 0.4 19 0.9 22 0.9

Some college 34 1.7 15 1.2 1 0.4 19 1.0 2 0.4 27 0.9 30 1.0

College/graduate school 29 1.4 17 0.9 7 0.9 11 0.9 1 0.2 36 1.4 36 1.4

Household structure

Two parents 43 1.0 14 0.7 3 0.3 14 0.5 2 0.2 24 0.6 26 0.6

One parent 34 1.5 11 0.9 2 0.4 26 1.4 6 0.7 21 1.4 28 1.4

Household income

$15,000 or less 50 1.7 8 0.9 1 0.3 20 1.2 7 0.6 15 1.2 22 1.2

$15,001–25,000 50 1.9 10 1.1 2 0.4 17 1.3 4 0.7 17 1.2 21 1.3

$25,001–35,000 42 2.0 14 1.2 2 0.4 19 1.3 3 0.6 20 1.3 23 1.3

$35,001–50,000 39 1.5 16 1.4 3 0.7 16 1.0 1 0.4 24 1.3 26 1.2

More than $50,000 26 1.4 18 1.1 7 0.7 13 0.9 1 0.1 37 1.2 37 1.2

In poverty

Yes 52 1.9 7 0.9 1 0.3 19 1.3 7 0.6 14 1.2 21 1.3

No 37 0.8 15 0.6 4 0.3 16 0.5 2 0.2 26 0.5 28 0.5

Household size

2–3 persons 34 1.0 17 0.9 2 0.2 19 0.9 4 0.4 24 1.0 28 0.9

4 persons 38 1.2 14 0.9 3 0.4 15 0.7 3 0.3 26 1.0 29 1.1

5 persons 46 1.7 9 1.0 4 0.7 15 1.2 3 0.5 23 1.4 26 1.4

6 or more persons 54 3.0 6 1.0 3 0.8 18 1.9 4 0.6 14 1.3 18 1.4
Table A3.Percentage distribution of preschool children under 6 years old according to type of primary nonparental care arrangement, by child

and family characteristics: 1995—Continued

 Percentage distribution by type of primary nonparental care arrangement t

Demographic characteristics

 None (parental

 care only) d

 Family

 child care d Sitter

r

 Relative r Head Start

r

 Other

 center-based d

 All

 center-based d

Percent se* Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se

Home language

English 39 1.0 14 0.7 3 0.3 17 0.5 3 0.2 25 0.6 28 0.6

Non English 62 2.2 7 1.1 2 0.4 16 1.4 4 0.7 11 1.0 14 1.1

Disabling condition

None 42 0.9 13 0.6 3 0.2 17 0.4 3 0.2 22 0.6 25 0.5

One or more 34 2.7 9 1.5 3 0.9 14 1.6 9 1.2 30 2.1 40 2.1

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 46 2.5 9 1.3 2 0.7 23 2.0 7 1.3 14 1.8 21 2.1

18–19 49 1.9 9 1.0 2 0.5 21 1.4 5 0.8 15 1.5 20 1.6

20 or older 38 1.0 14 0.7 3 0.3 15 0.5 2 0.2 26 0.6 29 0.6

Number of risk factors

None 36 0.9 18 0.8 4 0.4 14 0.7 1 0.2 28 0.8 29 0.8

One 39 1.5 11 0.9 3 0.5 18 1.1 3 0.4 26 1.0 29 1.0

Two or more 49 1.6 8 0.8 2 0.3 20 1.2 7 0.7 14 1.2 21 1.2

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

*In all instances, “se” indicates standard error. Standard errors less than .05 were rounded to 0.0.

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program in which the child spent the most

time per week. Percentages may not sum to 100 and details may not sum to totals due to rounding or cell suppression.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, 1995, Early Childhood Program Participation

Component.
104

Table A4.For preschool children under 6 years old in some form of regular nonparental care, coefficients

from OLS regression of the number of hours in nonparental care on child and family characteristics, by age: 1995

Demographic characteristics All children n

Infants

 (less than 1 year old) )

b

1

se b

1

se

Intercept 38.47* 1.83 39.71* 4.02

Age

2 or younger reference group — —

3–5 -0.22 0.46 — —

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic reference group

Black, non-Hispanic 3.37* 0.84 1.80 1.88

Hispanic -0.30 0.79 -3.31* 1.63

Other, non-Hispanic 2.87* 1.20 1.13 2.52

Mother’s employment status

35 hours or more per

 week reference group

Less than 35 hours per

 week -14.33* 0.60 -15.34* 1.32

Looking for work -16.36* 1.26 -14.97* 3.05

Not in labor force -19.87* 0.67 -14.31* 2.14

Region

Northeast reference group

Midwest 4.34* 0.73 3.30 2.04

South 1.01 0.78 2.35 2.11

West 0.47 0.81 1.03 2.32

Urban

Nonmetropolitan reference group

Metropolitan -0.11 0.62 0.61 1.51

Risk factors

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school reference group

High school -1.85 1.06 -5.60* 2.15

Some college 0.03 1.12 -3.48 2.28

College/graduate school 0.29 1.15 -4.11 2.40

Household structure

Two parents reference group

One parent 6.75* 0.71 4.40* 1.64

Household income

$15,000 or less reference group

$15,001–25,000 0.22 1.01 -0.07 2.28

$25,001–35,000 -0.23 0.95 -0.34 2.23

$35,001–50,000 -0.48 0.94 0.44 2.14

More than $50,000 1.52 0.94 3.40 1.95
105

Table A4.For preschool children under 6 years old in some form of regular nonparental care, coefficients

from OLS regression of the number of hours in nonparental care on child and family characteristics, by age: 1995—Continued

Demographic characteristics All children n

Infants

 (less than 1 year old) )

b

1

se b

1

se

Household size

2–3 persons reference group

4 persons -0.44 0.56 0.38 1.35

5 persons -2.63* 0.73 -2.49 1.85

6 or more persons 0.33 1.09 3.75 2.15

Disabling condition

None reference group

One or more 1.22 0.81 7.52* 3.67

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 reference group

18–19 -4.59* 1.22 -4.45 2.48

20 or older -4.47* 1.08 -3.88 2.33

*Coefficient significantly different from 0, p < .05.

1

“b” indicates regression coefficient, a statistic indicating the relationship between the predictor variable and outcome variable,

net of all other predictor variables in the model.

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Model included controls for census region and urbanicity of residence.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
106

Table A5.Adjusted odds ratio of a preschool child under 6 years old being cared for in no nonparental

care arrangement or in two or more nonparental care arrangements, by child and family

characteristics: 1995

 Contrast to one nonparental care and education arrangement t

Demographic characteristics No nonparental

 care arrangement

 Two or more nonparental

 care arrangements

Age

2 or younger reference group

3–5 0.28* 2.31*

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic reference group

Black, non-Hispanic 0.86 0.91

Hispanic 0.87 0.90

Other, non-Hispanic 0.82 0.99

Mother’s employment status

35 hours or more per week reference group

Less than 35 hours per week 2.65* 1.18

Looking for work 9.12* 0.25*

Not in labor force 14.30* 0.36*

Region

Northeast reference group

Midwest 0.65* 0.88

South 0.79* 1.12

West 0.90 0.98

Urban

Nonmetropolitan reference group

Metropolitan 1.00 0.94

Risk factors

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school reference group

High school 0.85 0.96

Some college 0.57* 1.12

College/graduate school 0.49* 1.51

Household structure

Two parents reference group

One parent 0.38* 2.35*

Household income

$15,000 or less reference group

$15,001–25,000 1.04 0.82

$25,001–35,000 0.93 0.81

$35,001–50,000 0.76* 0.97

More than $50,000 0.44* 0.94

Household size

2–3 persons reference group

4 persons 1.12 1.32*

5 persons 1.43* 0.98

6 or more persons 1.61* 1.05
107

Table A5.Adjusted odds ratio of a preschool child under 6 years old being cared for in no nonparental

care arrangement or in two or more nonparental care arrangements, by child and family

characteristics: 1995—Continued

 Contrast to one nonparental care and education arrangement t

Demographic characteristics No nonparental

 care arrangement

 Two or more nonparental

 care arrangements

Home language

English reference group

Non English 1.23 0.60*

Disabling condition

None reference group

One or more 0.73* 1.31*

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 reference group

18–19 1.16 0.78

20 or older 1.19 0.71

*Indicates that the odds compared with the reference group are statistically significant at .05 level.

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Model included controls for census region and urbanicity of residence.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
108

Table A6.Adjusted odds ratio of a preschool child under 6 years old having a Head Start program, family

child care, or in-home child care or relative care versus another center-based program as the

primary arrangement, by child and family characteristics: 1995

Demographic characteristics Contrast to non-Head Start center-based nonparental care 

Head Start Family child care In-home child care Relative

Age

2 or younger reference group

3–5 11160.31* 0.20* 0.16* 0.19*

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic reference group

Black, non-Hispanic 3.03* 0.78 0.33* 1.32

Hispanic 3.84* 1.21 1.24 2.43*

Other, non-Hispanic 3.16* 0.73 0.47 1.71*

Mother’s employment status

35 hours or more per week reference group

Less than 35 hours per week 0.86 0.88 1.06 1.07

Looking for work 1.37 0.16* 0.11* 0.30*

Not in labor force 1.58* 0.19* 0.66 0.27*

Region

Northeast reference group

Midwest 0.79 0.88 0.35* 0.56*

South 1.25 2.18* 0.99 0.95

West 0.62 1.53* 1.22 0.70*

Urban

Nonmetropolitan reference group

Metropolitan 0.79 0.78 1.63 0.85

Risk factors

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school reference group

High school 0.68 1.01 1.22 0.82

Some college 0.39* 0.87 0.53 0.63*

College/graduate school 0.22* 0.73 1.94 0.34*

Household structure

Two parents reference group

One parent 1.10 0.82 1.38 1.23

Household income

$15,000 or less reference group

$15,001–25,000 0.89 0.89 0.76 0.86

$25,001–35,000 0.68 0.73 0.72 0.76

$35,001–50,000 0.31* 0.86 0.88 0.74

More than $50,000 0.13* 0.66* 1.09 0.47*

Household size

2–3 persons reference group

4 persons 1.09 1.00 2.19* 1.13

5 persons 1.21 0.82 2.83* 1.34

6 or more persons 1.42 0.94 4.17* 1.95*
109

Table A6.Adjusted odds ratio of a preschool child under 6 years old having a Head Start program, family

child care, or in-home child care or relative care versus another center-based program as the

primary arrangement, by child and family characteristics: 1995—Continued

Demographic characteristics Contrast to non-Head Start center-based nonparental care 

Head Start Family child care In-home child care Relative

Home language

English reference group

Non English 0.86 1.24 1.14 1.23

Disabling condition

None reference group

One or more 1.94* 0.62* 0.87 0.66*

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 reference group

18–19 1.01 0.74 0.73 1.03

20 or older 0.66 0.71 0.50 0.70

*Indicates that the odds compared with the reference group are statistically significant at .05 level.

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood

education program in which the child spent the most time per week. Model included controls for census region and urbanicity

of residence.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
Table A7.Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old whose parents reported that various child care characteristics were very important

in choosing a nonparental care arrangement, by primary arrangement type, parents’ source of information about arrangements, and

child and family characteristics: 1995

Characteristics Reasonable cost

 Small number

 of children

n

 Close to home

 Sick child

 care available

 Trained

 provider r English spoken

Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se

Total 64 0.9 68 0.9 57 1.0 49 0.9 77 0.7 84 0.7

Primary arrangement type

Total center-based 62 1.3 66 1.4 54 1.2 38 1.2 86 1.0 87 0.7

Head Start center 75 2.6 58 3.9 68 2.7 64 3.7 89 2.3 87 2.1

Non-Head Start center 60 1.4 67 1.4 52 1.3 34 1.3 86 1.0 87 0.8

Family child care 63 1.9 71 1.8 56 2.1 47 1.5 61 1.4 82 1.4

Sitter 54 4.7 74 3.3 67 5.2 49 4.0 60 4.6 78 3.5

Relative 70 1.6 68 1.5 62 1.9 67 1.6 76 1.4 83 1.1

Source of Information

Friends 61 1.4 69 1.2 55 1.3 42 1.2 74 1.2 84 1.0

Employer 53 5.3 70 4.4 41 4.3 34 5.2 83 3.8 79 3.9

School 63 4.0 66 4.2 53 4.1 47 4.7 83 3.0 88 2.3

Church 61 4.1 77 3.4 54 4.1 36 4.3 69 4.1 88 3.0

Advertisement 62 3.4 68 3.1 55 4.1 34 3.0 82 2.4 87 1.7

Agency 59 6.1 69 5.6 58 5.2 41 5.8 78 4.5 80 3.5

Referral Service 57 6.3 69 8.1 55 7.8 32 6.1 81 5.3 86 4.0

Other 66 2.6 67 2.8 56 3.3 42 2.6 85 2.2 85 2.1

Demographic characteristics

Age

Less than 1 66 2.2 71 2.1 61 2.6 59 2.5 73 2.2 81 1.8

1 63 2.0 72 1.7 59 2.0 55 1.9 71 1.9 81 1.7

2 66 1.8 71 1.8 55 2.0 52 2.0 74 1.6 84 1.6

3 62 1.8 66 1.8 56 1.8 45 1.5 77 1.8 83 1.5

4 64 1.4 65 1.7 58 1.7 44 1.8 82 1.4 89 1.0

5 61 3.2 66 3.2 52 3.0 40 2.9 82 2.5 84 2.3

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic 58 1.2 69 1.0 53 1.3 39 1.1 73 1.0 86 0.8

Black, non-Hispanic 83 1.4 64 2.1 67 2.0 77 1.8 86 1.6 89 1.4

Hispanic 70 1.9 69 2.2 68 1.5 68 2.2 82 1.8 69 2.4

Other, non-Hispanic 67 2.8 68 4.1 56 3.9 50 3.7 80 3.0 75 3.3
Table A7.Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old whose parents reported that various child care characteristics were very important

in choosing a nonparental care arrangement, by primary arrangement type, parents’ source of information about arrangements, and

child and family characteristics: 1995—Continued

Characteristics Reasonable cost

 Small number

 of children

n

 Close to home

 Sick child

 care available

 Trained

 provider r English spoken

Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se

Mother’s employment status

Currently employed 63 1.0 69 0.9 57 1.3 49 1.2 75 0.8 85 0.7

35 hours or more per week 65 1.2 70 1.2 59 1.2 51 1.5 75 1.3 84 0.7

Less than 35 hours per week 60 2.1 69 1.4 54 2.4 45 1.9 75 1.6 86 1.5

Looking for work 77 4.5 52 5.2 60 4.5 70 4.8 85 3.2 84 3.1

Not in labor force 61 2.2 68 2.1 55 2.0 42 2.0 81 1.8 85 1.7

Region

Northeast 65 2.0 71 2.0 59 2.3 45 2.2 81 1.8 86 1.7

Midwest 65 1.1 70 1.3 58 1.6 55 1.3 79 1.0 85 1.1

South 59 2.0 63 1.7 55 1.7 44 1.9 71 1.8 86 1.6

West 66 1.8 68 2.1 58 1.7 48 2.4 75 1.8 78 1.8

Urban

Nonmetropolitan 63 2.1 65 2.0 58 1.9 50 2.0 73 2.0 87 1.6

Metropolitan 64 1.0 69 0.9 57 0.9 49 0.9 78 0.8 84 0.8

Mother in household

No 72 4.3 65 4.5 63 5.2 64 4.9 71 4.1 76 3.7

Yes 64 0.9 68 0.9 57 1.0 49 0.9 77 0.7 85 0.7

Risk factors

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school 77 2.8 62 3.1 71 3.0 73 3.7 81 2.2 86 1.9

High school 71 1.4 66 1.6 60 1.5 59 1.6 79 1.3 87 1.2

Some college 64 1.6 70 1.3 55 2.2 48 2.1 78 1.2 86 1.3

College/graduate school 48 2.0 72 1.3 49 2.0 26 1.5 71 1.6 80 1.3

Household structure

Two parents 58 1.0 70 1.0 55 1.2 42 1.0 74 0.9 84 0.8

One parent 78 1.4 63 1.7 63 1.8 67 1.6 83 1.2 85 1.2

Household income

$15,000 or less 82 1.5 63 2.0 68 1.9 70 2.0 83 1.6 84 1.4

$15,001–25,000 75 2.2 69 2.1 61 2.7 60 2.9 80 2.0 83 2.2

$25,001–35,000 64 1.7 65 2.4 55 2.3 54 1.8 77 1.9 86 1.6

$35,001–50,000 61 1.8 71 1.6 54 2.0 45 1.9 74 2.0 85 1.5

More than $50,000 48 1.5 72 1.4 51 1.8 28 1.3 72 1.3 84 1.2
Table A7.Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old whose parents reported that various child care characteristics were very important

in choosing a nonparental care arrangement, by primary arrangement type, parents’ source of information about arrangements, and

child and family characteristics: 1995—Continued

Characteristics Reasonable cost

 Small number

 of children

n

 Close to home

 Sick child

 care available

 Trained

 provider r English spoken

Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se

In poverty

Yes 59 1.6 70 2.1 54 1.9 44 2.2 75 1.7 84 1.5

No 81 1.0 62 0.9 68 1.1 69 0.9 83 0.8 84 0.8

Household size

2–3 persons 67 1.3 69 1.5 57 1.3 54 1.3 76 1.2 83 1.1

4 persons 61 1.4 67 1.3 55 1.6 44 1.6 77 1.2 86 1.1

5 persons 62 2.2 70 2.2 57 2.2 48 2.3 77 1.9 84 1.8

6 or more persons 68 3.2 63 3.7 65 2.8 54 3.8 76 2.3 82 2.1

Home language

English 63 0.9 68 0.9 56 1.1 47 0.9 77 0.8 86 0.7

Non English 71 2.8 71 3.4 73 2.8 69 3.2 80 2.6 69 2.8

Disabling condition

None 64 0.9 68 0.9 57 1.1 49 0.8 76 0.8 84 0.7

One or more 64 3.2 67 2.3 62 2.6 54 2.8 84 2.0 84 1.9

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 73 3.2 61 3.4 68 2.8 73 3.7 80 2.7 86 2.4

18–19 75 2.0 64 1.9 65 2.1 67 2.4 79 2.3 87 1.7

20 or older 60 1.1 70 0.9 54 1.1 42 1.0 76 0.9 84 0.8

Number of risk factors

None 55 1.1 71 1.1 52 1.6 37 1.2 73 1.2 86 0.9

One 66 1.7 69 1.5 56 1.8 50 1.9 78 1.6 81 1.3

Two or more 78 1.6 61 1.9 68 1.4 69 2.1 82 1.4 85 1.2

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. A child’s “primary arrangement”

was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program in which the child spent the most time per week.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, 1995, Early Childhood Program Participation

Component.
Table A8.Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old whose parents reported learning about their children’s primary arrangements from

various sources of information, by primary arrangement type and child and family characteristics: 1995

Characteristics Friends Employer r School l Church . Advertisement Agency

y

 Referral

 service . Other r

Percent se* Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se

Total 59 1.1 4 0.4 6 0.5 5 0.4 10 0.7 4 0.4 2 0.3 16 0.9

Primary arrangement type

Total center-based 52 1.2 5 0.6 9 0.7 5 0.5 11 0.9 2 0.4 3 0.4 19 1.2

Head Start center 47 3.7 0 0.0 16 2.6 0 0.0 9 2.0 3 1.2 4 1.5 26 3.2

Non-Head Start center 53 1.3 6 0.7 8 0.7 6 0.6 11 1.0 2 0.4 2 0.4 18 1.2

Family child care 75 1.7 2 0.6 1 0.4 5 1.0 7 1.1 5 0.8 1 0.2 10 1.4

Sitter 61 3.7 0 0.0 2 1.3 5 1.9 16 2.7 9 2.6 0 0.0 9 2.6

Relative — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Demographic characteristics

Age

Less than 1 63 3.6 6 1.8 1 0.7 5 1.3 13 2.6 4 1.3 1 0.4 14 2.2

1 63 2.7 5 1.2 2 0.7 6 1.4 8 1.3 8 1.6 1 0.5 13 2.0

2 65 2.4 4 0.9 3 0.9 6 0.9 10 1.3 3 0.7 1 0.3 14 1.7

3 60 2.0 4 0.8 5 0.9 6 0.9 10 1.4 3 0.8 3 0.7 15 1.5

4 55 1.8 3 0.5 10 1.1 4 0.7 11 1.1 3 0.6 2 0.6 18 2.0

5 53 2.7 5 1.3 12 2.0 5 1.4 10 1.5 1 0.7 2 0.9 17 2.5

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic 61 1.2 4 0.5 5 0.5 5 0.6 10 0.8 4 0.4 2 0.3 15 1.0

Black, non-Hispanic 54 3.1 2 1.0 6 1.4 6 1.3 9 2.3 4 1.1 2 0.6 20 2.2

Hispanic 59 2.9 4 0.9 12 1.8 4 1.0 8 1.4 2 0.7 3 1.2 14 1.8

Other, non-Hispanic 62 5.0 5 2.1 8 2.4 3 1.3 12 3.4 4 1.5 2 1.0 14 3.0

Mother’s employment

status

Currently employed 62 1.2 5 0.6 4 0.4 5 0.6 11 0.9 4 0.5 2 0.3 13 1.1

35 hours or more per

 week

62 1.5 6 0.7 3 0.5 4 0.6 10 1.1 5 0.5 2 0.3 15 1.3

Less than 35 hours per

 week

63 2.0 5 0.7 6 1.0 7 1.0 12 1.6 4 1.0 1 0.4 9 1.1

Looking for work 45 5.5 0 0.0 9 2.7 3 1.7 12 4.4 5 2.3 2 1.4 27 4.5

Not in labor force 56 2.0 1 0.4 11 1.3 7 1.0 8 1.0 2 0.5 3 0.6 19 2.0
Table A8.Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old whose parents reported learning about their children’s primary arrangements from

various sources of information, by primary arrangement type and child and family characteristics: 1995Continued

Characteristics Friends Employer r School l Church . Advertisement Agency

y

 Referral

 service . Other r

Percent se* Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se

Region

Northeast 58 2.4 3 0.8 8 1.3 4 1.0 13 1.6 5 1.1 3 0.7 16 2.0

Midwest 59 1.8 5 0.9 5 0.7 7 0.8 9 1.3 3 0.7 2 0.5 18 1.6

South 62 2.2 4 0.8 6 1.3 4 0.8 9 1.4 3 0.7 2 0.5 13 1.8

West 58 2.2 4 0.7 6 1.0 5 1.0 10 1.2 4 0.8 1 0.5 15 1.6

Urban

Nonmetropolitan 63 2.1 4 1.0 7 1.3 5 0.9 10 1.4 2 0.7 1 0.5 15 2.0

Metropolitan 59 1.2 4 0.4 6 0.4 6 0.5 10 0.8 4 0.5 2 0.3 16 1.0

Mother in household

No 59 5.9 4 2.4 8 2.9 4 2.0 8 3.1 0 0.0 4 1.7 18 4.7

Yes 60 1.1 4 0.4 6 0.5 5 0.5 10 0.7 4 0.4 2 0.3 15 0.9

Risk factors

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school 49 3.6 1 0.4 11 2.3 3 1.4 7 2.4 4 1.4 0 0.0 27 3.6

High school 62 1.7 3 0.8 7 0.9 5 0.8 11 1.4 3 0.6 2 0.5 14 1.3

Some college 58 2.4 5 0.8 6 0.9 6 0.9 11 1.3 3 0.8 1 0.4 17 1.8

College/graduate

 school

62 1.6 5 0.9 4 0.5 6 0.9 10 1.1 5 0.8 2 0.5 12 1.2

Household structure

Two parents 61 1.1 4 0.4 6 0.4 6 0.6 10 0.7 4 0.5 2 0.3 13 0.9

One parent 55 2.7 3 0.8 7 1.2 2 0.5 10 1.6 4 0.9 1 0.5 22 2.4

Household income

$15,000 or less 53 3.0 2 0.7 9 1.2 4 1.0 11 2.1 4 0.9 2 0.6 24 2.8

$15,001–25,000 56 3.4 5 1.1 8 1.4 5 1.5 9 1.6 4 1.3 0 0.3 16 2.2

$25,001–35,000 62 2.5 4 0.8 6 1.1 4 1.2 8 1.2 3 0.8 2 0.7 13 1.8

$35,001–50,000 67 1.9 6 1.0 5 0.8 6 1.2 11 1.3 3 0.8 1 0.3 11 1.9

More than $50,000 60 1.2 4 0.7 4 0.6 6 0.8 11 1.0 4 0.7 3 0.5 14 1.2

In poverty

Yes 52 3.2 2 0.8 10 1.3 4 1.0 11 2.3 4 0.9 2 0.6 24 2.9

No 61 1.0 4 0.4 5 0.5 6 0.5 10 0.6 4 0.4 2 0.3 14 0.8
Table A8.Percentage of preschool children under 6 years old whose parents reported learning about their children’s primary arrangements from

various sources of information, by primary arrangement type and child and family characteristics: 1995Continued

Characteristics Friends Employer r School l Church . Advertisement Agency

y

 Referral

 service . Other r

Percent se* Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se Percent se

Household size

2–3 persons 65 2.0 4 0.7 5 0.7 4 0.7 10 1.0 5 0.8 3 0.5 13 1.3

4 persons 58 1.5 4 0.7 5 0.6 5 0.7 10 1.0 3 0.6 1 0.4 17 1.5

5 persons 53 2.4 5 1.4 9 1.7 7 1.2 12 1.9 2 0.7 1 0.6 17 1.7

6 or more persons 57 3.9 2 1.0 8 1.7 5 1.4 6 1.4 6 1.8 3 1.1 16 3.1

Home language

English 59 1.2 4 0.5 6 0.5 5 0.5 10 0.7 4 0.4 2 0.3 16 0.9

Non English 62 4.4 3 1.4 10 2.1 6 2.0 7 1.6 0 0.0 3 1.8 13 2.8

Disabling condition

None 61 1.2 4 0.5 5 0.5 6 0.5 10 0.7 4 0.4 2 0.3 15 1.0

One or more 50 2.9 3 0.9 13 1.8 2 0.8 12 1.9 3 0.8 2 1.0 20 3.0

Mother’s age at first

birth

Less than 18 51 4.0 1 0.6 7 2.0 2 0.8 8 2.6 4 1.7 2 1.1 28 3.9

18–19 60 3.2 4 1.3 10 2.3 3 1.1 9 2.8 2 0.9 2 0.8 17 2.3

20 or older 60 1.1 4 0.5 5 0.4 6 0.6 11 0.8 4 0.4 2 0.3 14 0.8

Number of risk factors

None 63 1.2 5 0.6 4 0.4 7 0.7 10 0.8 4 0.5 2 0.4 12 1.0

One 59 2.1 4 0.8 8 1.0 4 0.8 10 1.2 3 0.7 2 0.5 15 1.6

Two or more 52 2.4 2 0.7 10 1.3 3 0.8 9 1.5 4 1.0 1 0.5 24 2.4

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

*In all instances, “se” indicates standard error. Standard errors less than .05 were rounded to 0.0.

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program in which the child spent the most

time per week.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, 1995, Early Childhood Program Participation

Component.
116

Table A9.Coefficients from OLS regression of cost of primary arrangement on characteristics of primary

arrangement: 1995

Characteristic of primary arrangement b

1

se

Child/staff ratio -0.01 0.01

Whether provided sick child care -0.10 0.07

Number of services2-0.21* 0.05

Whether less than 10-minute commute 0.21* 0.06

Whether provider educated or trained in child

development 0.17* 0.09

Whether parent involvement encouraged2-0.03 0.13

Whether provider spoke English 0.06 0.16

*Coefficient significantly different from 0, p < .05.

1

“b” indicates regression coefficient, a statistic indicating the relationship between the predictor variable and outcome variable,

net of all other predictor variables in the model.

2Applies to center-based programs only.

NOTE: A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education

program in which the child spent the most time per week. Model controlled for age of child, race–ethnicity, mother’s employment status, census region and urbanicity of residence, mother’s educational attainment, number of parents present in the

household, household income, household size, language spoken in the home, disability status of the child, mother’s age at first

birth, and primary arrangement type.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
Table A10.Coefficients from OLS regressions of cost, child/staff ratio, and number of services of preschool children’s primary arrangements on

parental preferences, and adjusted odds ratio of children’s primary arrangements having various characteristics, by parents’

preferences for child care characteristics: 1995

Characteristics

 Cost1

 Child/staff

 ratio1

 Number of

 services

Less than

10-minute

commute3

Provides

sick child

care3

Provider

educated

or

trained3

Parent involvement

encouraged2,3 English

spoken3s

b

4

se b

4

se b

4

se Odds ratio Odds ratio Odds ratio Odds ratio Odds ratio

Not controlling for type of primary arrangement

Parental preferences5

Close to home -0.10 0.09 -0.14 0.11 0.02 0.06 2.57* 1.05 0.91 0.84 0.98

Reasonable cost -0.07 0.10 0.15 0.11 -0.11 0.06 0.85 1.00 0.94 1.12 0.92

English spoken -0.01 0.09 0.19 0.14 0.14 0.07 1.09 0.88 1.07 0.93 3.26*

Small number of children 0.06 0.08 -0.28* 0.11 0.08 0.06 0.98 1.09 1.02 1.03 0.86

Sick child care available -0.23* 0.09 -0.76* 0.11 0.21* 0.07 0.71* 3.40* 0.55* 1.25 0.46*

Trained provider 0.13 0.09 0.72* 0.11 0.26* 0.07 0.75* 0.50* 5.30* 1.73* 1.41

Controlling for type of primary

arrangement

Parental preferences5

Close to home -0.10 0.08 -0.02 0.09 0.01 0.05 2.58* 0.92 1.01 0.82 1.10

Reasonable cost -0.07 0.09 0.09 0.09 -0.10 0.06 0.85 1.06 0.85 1.14 0.94

English spoken -0.01 0.08 0.03 0.12 0.16* 0.07 1.12 1.06 0.83 0.96 3.31*

Small number of children 0.06 0.08 -0.16 0.09 0.09 0.06 0.95 0.92 1.25 1.04 0.89

Sick child care available -0.09 0.09 -0.12 0.09 0.17* 0.07 0.68* 3.09* 0.92 1.21 0.59*

Trained provider 0.10 0.08 0.12 0.09 0.27* 0.07 0.83 0.79* 5.41* 1.76* 1.18

*For OLS regression coefficients, indicates coefficient significantly different from 0, p < .05. For odds ratios, indicates that the odds compared with the reference group are

statistically significant at .05 level.

1OLS Regression model with the dependent variable measured as a continuous variable.

2

Includes children in center-based programs only.

3Logit model with the dependent variable measured as a dichotomous variable.

4

“b” indicates regression coefficient, a statistic indicating the relationship between the predictor variable and outcome variable, net of all other predictor variables in the

model.

5

Parental preferences are coded as binary such that the response category “very important” is contrasted with the categories “somewhat important” and “not important.”

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a regular basis. A child’s “primary

arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program in which the child spent the most time per week. Model

controlled for age of child, race–ethnicity, mother’s employment status, census region and urbanicity of residence, mother’s educational attainment, number of parents

present in the household, household income, household size, language spoken in the home, disability status of the child, and mother’s age at first birth.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, 1995, Early Childhood Program

Participation Component.
118

Table A11.Adjusted odds ratio of a preschool child under 6 years old having a Head Start program, family

child care, or in-home child care or relative care versus another center-based program as the

primary arrangement, by parental preferences and child and family characteristics: 1995

Characteristics Contrast to non-Head Start center-based nonparental care 

Head Start Family child care In-home child

care

Relative

Parental preferences1

Close to home 1.31 1.11 1.98* 1.14

Reasonable cost 0.82 1.04 0.72 0.92

English spoken 1.04 0.72* 0.65 0.72∗

Small number of children 0.89 1.41* 1.54 1.20

Sick child care available 1.38 1.87* 2.68* 2.93∗

Trained provider 0.94 0.25* 0.24* 0.40∗

Demographic characteristics

Age

2 or younger reference group

3–5 11579.63* 0.21* 0.18* 0.20∗

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic reference group

Black, non-Hispanic 2.84* 0.77 0.30* 1.13

Hispanic 3.73* 1.19 1.16 2.19∗

Other, non-Hispanic 3.12* 0.72 0.48 1.61∗

Mother’s employment status

35 hours or more per week reference group

Less than 35 hours per week 0.91 0.94 1.18 1.16

Looking for work 1.37 0.17* 0.11* 0.31∗

Not in labor force 1.59* 0.19* 0.73 0.28∗

Region

Northeast reference group

Midwest 0.76 0.79 0.31* 0.51∗

South 1.28 2.10* 0.98 0.94

West 0.61 1.40 1.09 0.65∗

Urban

Nonmetropolitan reference group

Metropolitan 0.82 0.83 1.78* 0.90

Risk factors

Mother’s educational attainment

Less than high school reference group

High school 0.67 1.03 1.23 0.83

Some college 0.40* 0.89 0.53 0.67

College/graduate school 0.24* 0.76 2.07 0.39∗

Household structure

Two parents reference group

One parent 1.13 0.87 1.57 1.25

Household income

$15,000 or less reference group

$15,001–$25,000 0.96 0.91 0.78 0.87

$25,001–$35,000 0.71 0.78 0.84 0.79

$35,001–$50,000 0.32* 0.88 0.94 0.78

More than $50,000 0.13* 0.71 1.24 0.53∗
120

Table A11.Adjusted odds ratio of a preschool child under 6 years old having a Head Start program, family

child care, or in-home child care or relative care versus another center-based program as the

primary arrangement, by parental preferences and child and family characteristics: 1995—

Continued

Characteristics Contrast to non-Head Start center-based nonparental care 

Head Start Family child care In-home child

care

Relative

Household size

2 persons reference group

4 persons 1.12 1.04 2.32* 1.17

5 persons 1.22 0.81 2.72* 1.32

6 or more persons 1.49 0.98 4.50* 2.10∗

Home language

English reference group

Non English 0.79 1.06 0.88 1.01

Disabling condition

None reference group

One or more 1.89* 0.64* 0.90 0.64∗

Mother’s age at first birth

Less than 18 reference group

18–19 1.06 0.79 0.80 1.06

20 or older 0.71 0.80 0.62 0.79

*Indicates that the odds compared with the reference group are statistically significant at .05 level.

1

Parental preferences are coded as binary such that the response category “very important” is contrasted with the categories

“somewhat important” and “not important.”

NOTE: Sample includes only children who were in a nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program on a

regular basis. A child’s “primary arrangement” was defined as the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood

education program in which the child spent the most time per week. Model controlled for age of child, race–ethnicity, mother’s

employment status, census region and urbanicity of residence, mother’s educational attainment, number of parents present in

the household, household income, household size, language spoken in the home, disability status of the child, and mother’s age

at first birth.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey,

1995, Early Childhood Program Participation Component.
121
121

APPENDIX B: TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY

DATA SOURCE1995 NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD EDUCATION SURVEY

The National Household Education Survey (NHES:95) is a random digit dial (RDD) telephone survey conducted for NCES by Westat, Inc. The survey was conducted with a sample

drawn from the noninstitutionalized civilian population in households with telephones in the 50

states and the District of Columbia from January through April of 1995. The data were collected

using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) technology. As in 1991, NHES:95 included an Early Childhood Program Participation (ECPP) component, which surveyed the parents

of children aged 10 or younger as of December 1994 and in third grade or below, and an Adult

Education (AE) component, which surveyed adults aged 16 years or older who were not enrolled

in elementary or secondary education and were enrolled in adult or postsecondary education and

living at home. This report presents findings from the ECPP component only.

NHES:95 interviews began with the interviewer determining whether any household members were eligible for either the ECPP or the AE interview by listing all household members and

obtaining their ages and genders. No more than two ECPP interviews were completed per household: in households in which more than two children were eligible for the ECPP interview, two

children were sampled from the total number eligible. Once children were sampled, the interviewer determined which adult household member was most knowledgeable about each sampled

child’s care and education. In most cases, this adult was the child’s mother.

Because the sample included only households with telephones, the estimates were adjusted

to represent all households, including those without telephones, using estimates from the October

1993 and February 1995 Current Population Survey (CPS). The adjustments weighted interview

respondents to known CPS totals on race–ethnicity and income, census region and urbanicity, and

home ownership status and age.

SURVEY CONTENT

Following determination of eligibility based on the child’s month and year of birth, data

were collected on household composition and the child’s parents’ characteristics. At this stage the

interview took one of five routes: infant/toddler, preschool, kindergarten, primary school, or
TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY

122

home school. This study concentrates on those children who are not yet enrolled in kindergarten;

therefore, it uses information from the infant/toddler and the preschool paths. The infant/toddler

path was for children ages 2 years or younger and the preschool path was for those children who

were aged 3 to 5 years old and not yet attending kindergarten or primary school. Both of these

paths collected information about the following topics: (a) current nonparental care and early

education arrangements, including care by relatives or nonrelatives, participation in day care centers, and enrollment in nursery schools, prekindergartens, and Head Start programs; (b) parent

preferences for child care arrangements; (c) the continuity of child care arrangements since September 1994 and information on planned or current kindergarten enrollment; (d) a series of items

on the home environment, including activities with family members; (e) the child’s health and disability status; and (f) family status variables (i.e., household income, parental education, and labor

force status).

DATA RELIABILITY

Estimates produced using data from surveys are subject to two types of error, sampling and

nonsampling. Sampling error occurs because the data are collected from a sample rather than a

census of the population. Nonsampling errors occur during the collection and processing of data.

Nonsampling Errors

Nonsampling error refers to variations in estimates which may be caused by coverage, data

collection, processing, and reporting procedures. The sources of nonsampling errors typically include: (a) unit and item nonresponse, (b) differences in respondents’ interpretation of the meaning

of the questions, (c) response differences related to the particular time the survey was conducted,

and (d) mistakes in data preparation.

In general, it is difficult to identify and estimate either the amount of nonsampling error or

the bias caused by this error. In the NHES:95 data collection, efforts were made to minimize the

occurrence of nonsampling errors and to compensate for them where possible. For instance, during the survey design phase, cognitive laboratories and focus groups, over 500 hours of CATI instrument testing, and a pretest of more than 200 households were used to check for consistency

of interpretation of items and to eliminate ambiguity in items.

A specific issue that readers should be aware of is the ambiguity associated with identifying

a child’s school enrollment status as opposed to participation in early childhood care arrangements. Some parents may think of nursery school or prekindergarten as school, but may not think

of day care centers as school. Early in the NHES:95, respondents were asked if their child was
TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY

123

enrolled in school and, if so, the child’s current grade. Later in the interview, respondents were

asked to indicate if their child was enrolled in a variety of early childhood nonparental care arrangements. The results of the survey suggest that there is some inconsistency between the responses to these items. Some respondents (72) indicated that their child was enrolled in school

with a grade of nursery school, preschool, prekindergarten, or Head Start, but later reported that

their child was not enrolled in either a Head Start program or a center-based program. Conversely, other respondents (216) reported that their preschoolers were not enrolled in school, but

later reported that they were participating in Head Start, a center-based program, or both. To ensure that this analysis is inclusive of all types of center-based early childhood programs, this report

relies on the variables HSNOW and CPNNOW to identify all those who were preschoolers enrolled in nonparental center-based care arrangements. Additional information on this matter is

provided in the NHES:95 Early Childhood Program Participation Data File User’s Manual

(Collins et al. 1996).

Another issue that readers should be aware of is the ambiguity associated with describing

and classifying center-based programs for children. As a result of experience with previous NHES

studies and cognitive laboratory work indicating that parents perceive few differences between

various types of center-based programs, information on all center-based programs was collected

together. The only distinction that is made is between Head Start programs and non-Head Start

center-based programs. This distinction is maintained throughout the analysis, except when analyses are conducted for all center-based programs.

Sampling Errors

The sample of telephone households selected for NHES:95 is just one of the many possible

samples of telephone households that could have been selected. Thus, estimates produced from

the NHES:95 sample may differ from estimates that would have been produced from other samples. This type of variability is called sampling error because it arises from using a sample of persons (or households), rather than all persons (or households).

The standard error is a measure of the variability due to sampling when estimating a statistic

such as a population total or a percentage. For each statistic, it indicates how much variance there

is in the population of possible estimates for a given sample size. Standard errors can be used as a

measure of the precision of a particular sample. The probability that a statistic from a complete

census would differ from the sample statistic by less than one standard error is about 68 out of

100. The chances that the difference would be less than 1.65 times the standard error are about 90

out of 100; and that the difference would be less than 1.96 times the standard error, about 95 out

of 100.
TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY

124

Because the NHES:95 used a list-assisted method of random-digit-dialing (RDD) sampling,

the direct estimates of sampling errors for the estimates cannot be based on the assumptions of

simple random sampling. Various factors, including noncoverage of households with unlisted

numbers, oversampling to improve estimates of blacks and Hispanics, the use of the list-assisted

Mitofsky-Waksberg approach, and nonlinear estimation procedures, all contribute to deviations

from simple random sampling.

One method used for computing sampling errors to reflect these aspects of the sample design and the estimation procedures is called jackknife replication. In this method, the sample is

divided into groups of replicates based upon the original sample of phone numbers. A replicate

weight is developed for each replicate sample using the same procedures used for the full sample.

This procedure is repeated for each replicate. Additional information on this matter is provided in

the NHES:95 Early Childhood Program Participation Data File User’s Manual (Collins et al.

1996).

Estimates are then produced for each replicate using the replicate weights and compared to

the full sample estimate in order to estimate the sampling error of the statistic. For the bivariate

statistics, the computation of the replicate estimates, comparison to the full sample estimate, and

the computation of the estimated sampling error for the statistic was done using the SAS procedure REPTAB, specifying the JK1 option. For the multivariate analyses, the Taylor series method

of estimating standard errors was employed using the REGRESS, LOGISTIC, and MULTILOG

procedures of the software SUDAAN 7.0.

Response Rates

NHES:95 completed screening interviews with 45,465 households. The weighted response

rate for the screening of households was an estimated 73.3 percent.

A total of 14,064 interviews were completed for children who were sampled and identified

as eligible for the ECPP component of the survey. The weighted completion rate for the ECPP

interview, or the percent of interviews conducted for eligible children, was 90.4 percent. The

overall weighted response rate for the ECPP interview was 66.3 percent, the product of the

household screening response rate and the ECPP interview completion rate.

For the NHES:95 ECPP component, the item response rate (the number of completed data

items divided by the number of items that could have been completed) is in excess of 95 percent

for nearly every item.
TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY

125

VARIABLES USED1

Classification variables were created to describe the characteristics of children, their mothers, and their families. These variables were then examined in relation to several outcome variables, including whether a child was enrolled in an early care or education program, the number of

programs in which the child was enrolled, the characteristics of the programs, and the parents’

preferences regarding child care and education programs.

Due to differences in the kinds of variables required for the computation of various statistics, some of these variables were defined in multiple categories for the bivariate analyses and then

dichotomized for the multivariate analyses (logistic regressions). The section below describes the

variables used in both types of analyses. The names of variables that were used as they existed on

the file are in capital letters, and the names of variables that were created for these analyses from

variables given on the file are in capital letters and in parentheses.

Weights

Analyses were conducted using the final child weight EWEIGHT.

Demographic Characteristics

AGE94

Child’s age was determined using the variable AGE94, which represents the age of the child

as of December 31, 1994, and was calculated from the child’s birth month and year as reported by

the respondent.

(AGEGRP)

Child’s age was dichotomized using the variable AGE94 as follows:

0 = <1, 1, 2 AGE94 = 0, 1, 2

1 = 3, 4, 5 AGE94 = 3, 4, 5

 

1For detailed information about all the variables in the NHES Preprimary data file, consult M.A. Collins, J.M. Brick, L.S.

Loomis, S. Gilmore, and K. Chandler. National Household Education Survey of 1995: Early Childhood Program Participation

Data File User’s Manual. NCES Publication 96-825 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for

Education Statistics, 1996).
TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY

126

MOMEMPLD

The composite variable MOMEMPLD was used to measure the mother’s work status as

follows:

1 = Working 35 hours per week or more

2 = Working less than 35 hours per week

3 = Looking for work

4 = Not in labor force

(MWORKST)

Mother’s work status was dichotomized using MOMEMPLD as follows:

0 = currently not working MOMEMPLD = 3 or 4

1 = currently working MOMEMPLD = 1 or 2

CENREG

Census region in which the subject lives was based on the variable CENREG as follows:

1 = Northeast

2 = South

3 = Midwest

4 = West

URBAN

Urbanicity of residence was based on the variable URBAN as follows:

0 = non-Metropolitan Statistical Area

1 = Metropolitan Statistical Area2

(MUSBORN)

Mother born in the United States dichotomized MOMBORN (N5) as follows:

0 = foreign born MOMBORN = 3

1 = U.S. born MOMBORN = 1, 2

 

2Metropolitan Statistical Areas are defined by the Office of Management and Budget for use in the presentation of statistics by

agencies of the Federal Government. An MSA is a geographical area consisting of a large population nucleus, together with

adjacent communities which have a high degree of economic and social integration with that nucleus.
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(MOTHER)

Presence of mother in household dichotomized HHMOM as follows:

0 = no HHMOM = 2, 3

1 = yes HHMOM = 1

Risk Factors

(HOUSEINC)

Household Income (HOUSEINC) was constructed from HINCOME as follows:

1 = $15,000 or less HINCOME = 1, 2, or 3

2 = $15,001–$25,000 HINCOME = 4 or 5

3 = $25,001–$35,000 HINCOME = 6 or 7

4 = $35,001–$50,000 HINCOME = 8 or 9

5 = more than $50,000 HINCOME = 10 or 11

(POVERTY)

Children’s families were classified as poor or not poor using derived variable POVERTY as

follows:

0 = no, child does not live in poverty POVERTY = 2

1 = yes, child lives in poverty POVERTY = 1

(HOMELANG)

Home language (HOMELANG) was constructed from MOMLANG (mother’s first language) and MOMSPEAK (language mother spoke most at home) as follows:

0 = English MOMLANG = English or

MOMLANG= not English and

MOMSPEAK = English

1 = Not English MOMLANG = not English and

MOMSPEAK = Spanish, or an Asian

or other language
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(FAMTYPE)

Family composition (FAMTYPE) was created by recoding FAMILY as indicated below.

Stepparents who lived in the household with the child were counted as parents for this analysis.

0 = No parent (not used in analyses) FAMILY = 5

1 = One parent FAMILY = 1, 2

2 = Two parents FAMILY = 3, 4

(PARDICH)

Family composition was dichotomized by recoding FAMTYPE as follows:

0 = 2 parents FAMTYPE = 2

1 = 1 parent FAMTYPE = 1

(NOHSEHLD)

Household size (NOHSEHLD) was constructed from NUMPERS as follows:

1 = Two or three NUMPERS = 2 or 3

2 = Four NUMPERS = 4

3 = Five NUMPERS = 5

4 = Six or more NUMPERS = 6

(NOHODICH)

Household size was dichotomized (NOHODICH) by recoding NOHSEHLD as follows:

0 = 5 or fewer members NOHSEHLD = 1, 2, or 3

1 = 6 or more members NOHSEHLD = 4

(MOMED)

Mother’s education (MOMED) was constructed from MOMGRADE as follows:

1 = Less than high school diploma MOMGRADE = 1, 2, 3

2 = High school or equivalent MOMGRADE = 4, 5, 6

3 = Some college MOMGRADE = 7, 8

4 = College or graduate school MOMGRADE = 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
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(MOMEDICH)

Mother’s education (MOMEDICH) was dichotomized as follows:

0 = At least high school diploma or GED MOMED = 2, 3, or 4

1 = Did not complete high school or earn GED MOMED = 1

(TEENMOM)

Mother’s age at first becoming a parent (TEENMOM) used MOMNEW as follows:

1 = Less than 18 MOMNEW = 11 through 17

2 = 18–19 MOMNEW = 18 or 19

3 = 20 and over MOMNEW = 20 or greater

(MAGEDICH)

Mother’s age at first becoming a parent was dichotomized by recoding TEENMOM as follows:3

0 = 18 or older TEENMOM = 2 or 3

1 = Younger than 18 TEENMOM = 1

(RACEETHY)

Two NHES questions concerning children’s racial–ethnic backgrounds were combined to

create one race–ethnicity variable that distinguished among various minority groups. Race–ethnicity (RACEETHY) was constructed from CHISPANIC (A4) and CRACE (A3) as follows:

1 = White, non-Hispanic CHISPANIC = no and CRACE =

white

2 = Black, non-Hispanic CHISPANIC = no and CRACE =

black

3 = Other CHISPANIC = no and CRACE =

Asian/Pacific Islander, Native American, Alaskan Native, or some other

race

4 = Hispanic CHISPANIC = yes

 

3Mothers 18 years or older are more likely to have graduated from high school or received a GED, and are more likely to have

been married when they first became parents. Consequently, children of mothers who were 18 when they first became parents

are not at as great a risk as children whose mothers were younger than 18 when they first became parents (see, for example,

Hofferth and Moore 1979). Therefore, only children whose mothers were less than 18 years old when they first became parents

were counted as being at risk in the dichotomized variable.
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(RACEDICH)

Race–ethnicity was dichotomized (RACEDICH) by recoding RACEETHY as follows:

0 = White, non-Hispanic; Asian/Pacific Islander, RACEETHY = 1 or 3

or Other

1 = Black, non-Hispanic or Hispanic RACEETHY = 2 or 4

(DISDICH)

Disabling condition (DISDICH) was a dichotomous variable created from parental report

(M4 and M6) that the child has any of a list of specific disabling conditions:

1 = One disability or more HDLEARN = 1 or HDRETARD = 1

or HDSPEECH = 1 or HDDISTRB

= 1 or HDDEAF = 1 or HDHEAR =

1 or HDBLIND = 1 or HDVISUAL

= 1 or HDORTHO = 1 or

HDOTHER = 1 or HDDEVEL = 1

0 = All else

(RISKFACT)

The risk factor summary (RISKFACT) was constructed from the following variables:

(DISDICH), (HOMELANG), (MAGEDICH), (MOMEDICH), (NOHODICH), (PARDICH), and

(POVERTY). For each case, RISKFACT was computed by summing the individual’s values for

each of the 7 variables listed above. Thus the variable could take on values ranging from 0 to 7. In

cases where children were not living with their mothers or stepmothers, RISKFACT had a maximum value of 4. These children had missing values for the variables that required data about their

mothers or stepmothers (HOMELANG), (MOMEDICH), and (MAGEDICH).

Outcome Variables

Enrollment Variables

(KINDER)

Enrollment in kindergarten (KINDER) was constructed from ALLGRADE as follows:

1 = enrolled in kindergarten ALLGRADE = K or T or P

0 = not enrolled in kindergarten ALLGRADE not equal to K, T or P
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131

(ECENROL)

Regular enrollment in an early childhood education program or in the care of a nonparent

(ECENROL) was constructed using the enrollment variables RCNOW, NCNOW, HSNOW, and

CPNNOW, and the frequency of participation variables RCWEEK, NCWEEK, HSWEEK, and

CPWEEK as follows:

1 = Attending an early care or education program RCNOW=1 and RCWEEK=1, or

NCNOW=1 and NCWEEK=1, or

HSNOW=1 and HSWEEK=1, or

CPNNOW=1 and CPWEEK=1

0 = Not attending an early care or education (RCNOW=2, NCNOW=2,

 program HSNOW=2, and CPNNOW=2) or

(RCNOW=1 and RCWEEK≠1) or

(NCNOW=1 and NCWEEK≠1) or

(HSNOW=1 and HSWEEK≠1) or

(CPNNOW=1 and CPWEEK≠1)

(CENTER1)

Enrollment in a non-Head Start center-based preschool program (CENTER1) was constructed from CPNNOW and CPWEEK1 as follows:4

1 = enrolled in preschool CPNNOW = 1 and CPWEEK1 = 1

0 = not enrolled in preschool CPNNOW ≠ 1 or CPWEEK1 ≠1

(CENTER2)

Enrollment in a second non-Head Start center-based program, if applicable. Coding same as

(CENTER1).

(HDSTART)

Enrolled in a Head Start program was constructed from HSNOW and HSWEEK1 as follows:

1 = in Head Start HSNOW = 1 and HSWEEK1 = 1

0 = not in Head Start HSNOW = 2 or (HSNOW = 1 and

HSWEEK1 ≠ 1)

 

4Note that this variable was used only in analyses of children who were not enrolled in kindergarten, with kindergarten enrollment defined as given above.
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132

(ALLCEN)

Enrollment in any center-based preschool program, including Head Start programs,

(ALLCEN) was constructed from CPNNOW and HSNOW as follows:5

1 = enrolled in preschool CENTER1 = 1 or CENTER2 = 1 or

HDSTART = 1

0 = not enrolled in preschool CENTER1 ≠ 1 and CENTER2 ≠ 1

and HDSTART ≠ 1

(RELAT1)

In the care of a relative (RELAT1) was constructed from RCNOW and RCWEEK as follows:

1 = in relative care RCNOW = 1 and RCWEEK = 1

0 = not in relative care RCNOW = 2 or RCWEEK ≠ 1

(RELAT2)

In the case of a second relative, if applicable. Coding same as (RELAT1).

(FDC1)

In the care of a family day-care provider (FDC1) was constructed from NCNOW,

NCWEEK, and NCPLACE as follows:

1 = enrolled in family day care NCNOW = 1 and NCWEEK1 = 1

and NCPLACE = 2

0 = not enrolled in family day care else

(FDC2)

In the care of a second family day-care provider, if applicable. Coding same as (FDC1).

(SITTER1)

In the care of a sitter was constructed from NCNOW, NCWEEK, and NCPLACE as follows:

 

5Note that this variable was used only in analyses of children who were not enrolled in kindergarten, with kindergarten enrollment defined as given above.
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1 = in sitter care NCNOW = 1 and NCWEEK1 = 1

and NCPLACE = 1 or 3

0 = not in sitter care else

(SITTER2)

In the care of a second sitter, if applicable. Coding same as (SITTER1).

(PRIMCARE)

Primary care arrangement (PRIMCARE) is a categorical variable created from the variables

created to specify the hours spent per week in each type of care arrangement (see below:

RELHRS, FDCHRS, SITHRS, HDHRS, CENNHRS) as follows:

1 = relative care RELHRS is greater than all others

2 = family day care FDCHRS is greater than all others

3 = sitter care SITHRS is greater than all others

4 = Head Start HDHRS is greater than all others

5 = non-Head Start center-based care CENNHRS is greater than all others

6 = no nonparental care ECENROL = 0

Program Characteristics

Some children participated in more than one early care program or arrangement of each

type. To accommodate the children who attended multiple programs or arrangements, the variables used to describe the characteristics of the programs in which children were enrolled were

created by first identifying the program or arrangement in which a child spent the most time, and

then creating variables that described the characteristics of that program or arrangement. These

variables are described below.

(MOSTHRS) Hours of center-based program in which child spent

the most time (CPHRS, HSHRS, NCHRS,

RCHRS). If child attends two programs with same

number of hours, choose first of the programs in alphanumeric order

(MOSTKID) Number of children who attended the program in

which the child spent the most time (CPKIDS,

HSKIDS, NCKIDS, RCKIDS)
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134

(MOSTADL) Number of adults who cared for or taught children

in the program in which child spent the most time

NCADLTS, RCADLTS

(MOSTRAT) Ratio of (CENKID) / (CENADL); (RELKID) /

(RELADL);

(FDCKID) / (FDCADL);

(SITKID) / (SITADL);

(HSKID) / (HSADL) for program in which child

spent the most time

(MOSTLAN) Language spoken most of the time by the care provider of the primary arrangement (CPSPEAK,

HSSPEAK, NCSPEAK, RCSPEAK), coded 1 for

English and 0 for other languages

(MOSTDIS) Whether child’s primary arrangement was more than

a 10-minute commute from the child’s home

(CPTIME, HSTIME, NCTIME, RCTIME)

(CENPAR/HSPAR) Whether the Head Start or non-Head Start centerbased program encouraged and benefited from parental involvement is measured by dichotomizing the

total score formed by adding the following:

a) Parent involvement encouraged (CPARADV,

HSPARADV) = 1

b) Actually worked (CPARWRK, HSPARWRK) = 1

c) Parent advisory group (CPARHRS, HSPARHRS) = 1

The sum of these variables could range from 0 to 3.

The final variables (CENPAR/HSPAR) were constructed by recoding such that 0 = 0, and 1 = (1, 2,

or 3)

(CENSER/HSSER) Number of services provided by the Head Start program or non-Head Start center-based program =

(CPDISAB, HSDISAB) + (CPHYSEX,

HSPHYSEX) + (CPTEST, HSTEST) +

(CPDENTAL, HSDENTAL)
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(CENSICK/RELSICK/ FDCSICK/ Sick child care provided by the early care and

SITSICK/ HSSICK) education program or arrangement (CPSICK,

HSSICK, NCSICK, RCSICK)

(CENCOST)

The cost per hour of center care (CENCOST) was constructed from CPFEE (is there any

charge or fee for the program), CPWKSMO (weeks per month child attends program), CPDAYS

(days per week child attends program), CPHRS (hours each week child attends program),

CPCOST (how much household pays for child to attend program) and CPUNIT (unit of the price

paid), CPCOSTHH (is the amount specified for one or more children), CPCOSTHN (how many

children is the amount for), as follows:

if CPFEE = no, (CENCOST) = $0/hour

if CPFEE = yes and CPUNIT = per hour and CPCOSTHH = child only,

(CENCOST) = CPCOST

if CPFEE = yes and CPUNIT = per day and CPCSHH = child only,

(CENCOST) = CPCOST/(CPHRS/CPDAYS)

if CPFEE = yes and CPUNIT = per week and CPCSHH = child only,

(CENCOST) = CPCOST/CPHRS

if CPFEE = yes and CPUNIT = per month and CPCSHH = child only,

(CENCOST) = CPCOST/(CPHRS* 4.29)

if CPFEE = yes and CPUNIT = per year and CPCSHH = child only,

(CENCOST) = CPCOST/(CPHRS* 52)

if CPFEE = yes and CPUNIT = per hour and CPCSHH = child and others,

(CENCOST) = CPCOST/ CPCSHN

if CPFEE = yes and CPUNIT = per day and CPCSHH = child and others,

(CENCOST) = (CPCOST/(CPHRS/CPDAYS))/ CPCSHN

if CPFEE = yes and CPUNIT = per week and CPCSHH = child and others,

(CENCOST) = (CPCOST/CPHRS)/ CPCSHN

if CPFEE = yes and CPUNIT = per month and CPCSHH = child and others,

(CENCOST) = (CPCOST/(CPHRS* 4.29))/CPCSHN

if CPFEE = yes and CPUNIT = per year and CPCSHH = child and others,

(CENCOST) = (CPCOST/(CPHRS* 52))/CPCSHN
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The same procedure was followed for family day care, sitters, relative care, and Head Start

(RELCOST/FDCCOST/SITCOST/HSCOST) using:

Fee charged for this child (HSFEE, NCFEE, RCFEE)

Unit of time for cost reported (HSUNIT, NCUNIT, RCUNIT)

Is the amount specified for one or more children (HSCOSTHH, NCSTHH, RCSTHH)

How many children is the amount for (HSCOSTHN, NCSTHN, RCSTHN)

Days per week child attends program (HSDAYS, NCDAYS, RCDAYS)

Hours each week child attends program (HSHRS, NCHRS, RCHRS)

(CENEDUC / RELEDUC / FDCEDUC / SITEDUC / HSEDUC)

Whether teacher/provider in child’s primary arrangement had received education or training

specifically related to young children (CPEDUC, HSEDUC, NCEDUC, RCEDUC).

Parental Preferences

For each of the following areas, parents were asked, “I’m going to read some things that

people look for in selecting child care arrangements or early childhood programs. For each one,

please tell me if you think it is very important, somewhat important, or not important in selecting

an arrangement for [child’s name]”:

A caregiver who has special training in taking care of children PPTRAIN

A place where children will be cared for when they are sick PPSICK

A place close to your home PPCONV

A reasonable cost PPCOST

A small number of children in the same class or group PPKIDS

A caregiver or teacher who speaks English with your child PPENGL

The original coding of these variables included the following categories: 1 = very important,

2 = somewhat important, 3 = not important, -7 = refused, -8 = don’t know. Cases where the re-
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137

spondent refused to answer were removed from the analysis. For the remaining cases, these variables were recoded into dichotomies as follows:

1 = very important original coding: 1

0 = not very important original coding: 2, 3, -8

Source of Information about Program

For nonrelative, Head Start, and center arrangements, the child’s parent was asked, “How

did you learn about (this person as a care provider/that program) for (child)?”

These are categorized as:

friends, neighbors/relatives/coworkers — if NCFRIEND, HSFRIEND, or

CPFRIEND = 1;

place of employment — if NCPLEMPL, HSPLEMPL, or CPPLEMPL = 1;

public or private school — if NCSCHOOL, HSSCHOOL, or CPSCHOOL = 1;

church, synagogue, or other place of worship — if NCCHURCH, HSCHURCH, or

CPCHURCH = 1;

welfare or social service caseworkers — if NCSOCWKR, HSSOCWKR, or

CPSOWKR = 1;

newspaper/advertisements/yellow pages — if NCADS, HSADS, CPADS = 1;

resource and referral (R&R) agency — if NCAGENCY, HSAGENCY,

CPAGENCY = 1;

other — R already knew provider, provider cared for another child, reference

materials, public bulletin boards/flyers, other — if

NCKNEW, NCCHILD, NCREFER, NCBULLET, NCSOURCE, NCSOUROS,

HSKNEW, HSCHILD, HSREFER, HSBULLET, HSSOURCE, HSSOUROS,

CPKNEW, CPCHILD, CPREFER, CPBULLET, CPSOURCE, or CPSOUROS = 1.
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STATISTICAL PROCEDURES

Univariate Statistics

Since the estimates in this report are based on a sample, observed differences between two

estimates can reflect either of two possibilities: differences that exist in the population at large and

are reflected in the sample, or differences due solely to the composition of the sample that do not

reflect underlying population differences. To minimize the risk of erroneously interpreting differences due to sampling alone as signifying population differences (a Type I error), the statistical

significance of differences between estimates were tested using the following formula:

t =

E - E

se +se

1 2

1

2

2

2

(1)

where E1 and E2 are the estimates to be compared and se1 and se2 are their corresponding standard errors. Note that this formula is valid only for independent estimates. When the estimates

were not independent (for example, when comparing the percentages across a percentage distribution), a covariance term was added to the denominator of the t-test formula. Differences were

judged to be statistically significant when the value of t was sufficiently large that the probability

of a Type I error was no more than 5 percent (a significance level of .05). This procedure involved calculating Student’s t-statistic for the difference between the means or proportions of interest, then comparing this value with published tables of critical values of t corresponding to a

two-tailed hypothesis test with a significance level of .05.

There are hazards in reporting statistical tests for each comparison. First, comparisons based

on large t statistics may appear to merit special attention. This can be misleading, since the magnitude of the t statistic is related not only to the observed differences in means or percentages but

also to the number of students in the specific categories used for comparison. Hence, a small difference compared across a large number of students would produce a large t statistic.

A second hazard in reporting statistical tests for each comparison occurs when making multiple comparisons among categories of an independent variable. For example, when making paired

comparisons among different levels of household income, the probability of a Type I error for

these comparisons taken as a group is larger than the probability for a single comparison. When

more than one difference between groups of related characteristics or “families” are tested for

statistical significance, one must apply a standard that assures a level of significance for all of

those comparisons taken together.
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139

Comparisons were made in this report only when p ≤ .05/k for a particular pairwise comparison, where that comparison was one of k tests within a family. This guarantees both that the

individual comparison would have p ≤ .05 and that for k comparisons within a family of possible

comparisons, the significance level for all the comparisons will sum to p ≤ .05.6

For example, in a comparison of the percentages of children in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas who were in parental care only, only one comparison is possible (metropolitan versus nonmetropolitan). In this family, k=1, and the comparison can be evaluated without adjusting

the significance level. When children are divided into five groups based on household income and

all possible comparisons are made, then k=10 and the significance level of each test must be p ≤

.05/10, or p ≤ .005. The formula for calculating family size (k) is as follows:

k =

j(j -1)

2

(2)

where j is the number of categories for the variable being tested. In the case of household income,

there are five income groups ($15,000 or less, $15,001–$25,000, $25,001–$35,000, $35,001–

$50,000, and more than $50,000), so substituting 5 for j in equation 2,

k =

5(5 - 1)

2

= 10

Multivariate Statistics

Adjusted Mean Differences

In each of tables 5, 6, and 7 and appendix tables 4, 9, and 10 the statistics reported represent

the differences in the mean value of an outcome variable that are associated with predictor variables. These differences were computed using multivariate ordinary least squares regression

(OLS), a statistical procedure that relates variations in a set of dichotomous or continuous predictor variables to variation in a continuous outcome variable (Lewis-Beck 1990). In this report,

adjusted mean differences were computed using the REGRESS procedure of the SUDAAN soft-

 

6The standard that p≤.05/k for each comparison is more stringent than the criterion that the significance level of the comparisons should sum to p≤.05. For tables showing the t statistic required to ensure that p≤.05/k for a particular family size and degrees of freedom, see Olive Jean Dunn, “Multiple Comparisons Among Means,” Journal of the American Statistical

Association 56: 52–64 (1961).
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140

ware, a statistical package that allows computation of statistics while taking into account complex

sample designs.

Odds Ratios

The statistics reported in tables 1, 2, 3, 13, and 14 and appendix tables 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8 represent the percentages of children that fell within particular categories. For example, table 3

shows that 95 percent of children whose primary arrangements were non-Head Start center-based

arrangements and 18 percent of children whose primary arrangements were relative care had a

provider trained in child development. These percentages can also be expressed relative to each

other as an odds ratio. This ratio can be calculated in the following two steps:

1. The proportion of children cared for by relatives who were trained in child development

= 0.18; odds = 0.18/(1-0.18) = 0.22. The proportion of children in non-Head Start

centers who had a trained provider = 0.95; odds = 0.95/(1-0.95) = 19.0.

2. The odds ratio of children cared for by relatives versus children in non-Head Start centers = 0.22/19.0 = 0.01.

In simple terms, this means that being cared for by a relative rather than being enrolled in a

non-Head Start center-based nonparental care arrangement decreases a child’s odds of being

cared for by a provider who has been trained in early childhood development by a factor of .01 or,

in other words, those in relative care are about 99 percent less likely, in terms of odds, than those

in non-Head Start centers to be cared for by a trained provider.

One can also use logistic regression to calculate these odds ratios. The logistic model is

generally written in terms of the odds in the following manner:

log [ Prob(event) ] = B0 + B1X1 + ... + BpXp

 Prob(no event)

or alternatively:

 Prob(event) 

 = e

B0 + B1X1 + ... + BpXp

 Prob(no event)

For example, using logistic regression, one can regress being cared for by a trained provider

on the type of primary arrangement (coded as a series of dichotomous [1,0] variables). This model

can be written as follows:
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141

Prob(trained provider) 

= e

B0 + Bcare=Head Start+ Bcare=FDC+ Bcare=Sitter+ Bcare=Relative

Prob(untrained provider)

Fitting this model with the LOGISTIC procedure of the software SUDAAN, and specifying

the sampling design WR to account for the complex sampling design of NHES, results in the following estimates:

 T-test 

Variable B S.E. B=0 Significance

Constant 2.88 0.13 21.34 <0.001

Primary arrangement type

Head Start center-based 0.53 0.46 1.17 0.243

Non-Head Start center-based excluded

Family day care -2.96 0.16 18.51 <0.001

Sitter -3.55 0.23 15.18 <0.001

Relative -4.41 0.16 26.90 <0.001

The odds ratio comparing the odds of being cared for by a relative trained in child development with those of being enrolled in a non-Head Start center and having a provider trained in

early childhood development is calculated by

^

Ψ$ = e

 Bcare=Relative = e-4.41 = 0.01

which is approximately the same odds ratio calculated above. The significance of this odds ratio is

identical to the significance of the t-test for the B coefficient upon which it is based.

Using logistic regression to calculate these simple odds ratios is not efficient. However, using logistic regression, one can also calculate the odds ratios for comparisons while controlling

for other variables. The statistics in tables 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 are the odds ratios of the presence

of certain characteristics in a child’s primary arrangements, adjusted for various other variables

that are likely to be related to the characteristics of the children’s nonparental care arrangement.
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142

For example, the model discussed above could be expanded by adding variables for the age and

race of the child, census region and urbanicity of residence:

Prob(trained prov) 

=e

(B0+Bage=3, 4, 5 +Brace=black +..+Bcare=Head Start +Bcare=FDC+Bcare=Sitter+ Bcare=Relative)

Prob(untrained prov)

where Bage=3, 4, 5, Brace=black, etc., are dummy-coded variables with <1-, 1-, and 2-year-olds, white

non-Hispanic children, etc., as reference groups, respectively. The results of this model are as

follows:

 T-test 

Variable B S.E. B=0 Significance

Constant 2.78 0.30 9.16 <0.001

Age

Less than 3 excluded

3 or older -0.02 0.11 0.18 n.s.

Race–ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic excluded

Black, non-Hispanic 0.15 0.17 0.93 n.s.

Other, non-Hispanic -0.49 0.15 3.17 0.002

Hispanic -0.10 0.22 0.45 n.s.

Region

Northeast excluded

Midwest 0.01 0.16 0.05 n.s.

South 0.14 0.17 0.83 n.s.

West 0.06 0.17 0.34 n.s.

Urbanicity

Nonmetropolitan excluded

Metropolitan 0.14 0.14 1.00 n.s.

Primary arrangement type

Head Start center 0.58 0.46 1.26 n.s.

Non-Head Start center excluded

Family day care -2.97 0.17 17.16 <0.001

Sitter -3.57 0.24 14.72 <0.001

Relative -4.40 0.18 24.69 <0.001