U S C E N S U S B U R E A U

Helping You Make Informed Decisions •1902-2002

Demographic Programs

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Who’s Minding the Kids? Child

Care Arrangements: Spring 1997

Household Economic Studies

P70-86

Issued July 2002

Current

Population

Reports

By Kristin Smith

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHILDREN UNDER 5 

YEARS OLD

Child Care Arrangements for

Preschoolers

Number of Hours Spent in Child Care

Family Characteristics

Historical Trends in Primary

Arrangement of Employed Mothers

CHILDREN 5 TO 14 YEARS OLD

Child Care Arrangements for GradeSchool-Age Children

Family Characteristics

Enrichment Activities

Self Care

FAMILY EXPENDITURES 

ON CHILD CARE FOR ALL

CHILDREN UNDER 

15 YEARS OLD

Weekly Child Care Expenditures

Family Payments for Child Care

Receipt of Help to Pay for Child Care

INTRODUCTION

Interest in child care issues has grown in

the past decades as more women with

children have entered the labor force and

sought to balance both family and work.

Changes in welfare laws have

encouraged recipients, who are often

unmarried mothers, to seek work. This

report shows the number and characteristics of children in different child care

arrangements. The data come from the

fourth interview of the 1996 Survey of

Income and Program Participation (SIPP)

panel conducted between April and July

1997 and refer to child care arrangements used in the month prior to the

interview. These data continue a series

that dates back to 1985. New information presented in this report shows the

number of families that receive help in

paying for child care. 

The report contrasts child care arrangements for preschool- and grade-schoolage children. These two age groups differ in their needs and activities. While

the primary focus of child care for

infants and preschoolers is on meeting

their basic needs, for older children,

structured enrichment activities and the

incidence of children in self-care situations are of increased importance. 

CHILDREN UNDER 5 

YEARS OLD

After describing the patterns and use of

child care arrangements for preschoolers, this section shows how the arrangements varied by family characteristics

and the time children spent in various

arrangements during a typical week in

the month preceding the interview date.

The section concludes by summarizing

historical trends since the first SIPP child

care survey in 1985.
Child Care Arrangements 

of Preschoolers

In Spring 1997, 12.4 million 

(63 percent) of the 19.6 million children under 5 years of age were in

some form of regular child care

arrangement during a typical week

(see Table 1).1 Preschoolers — children under 5 years old — were

more likely to be cared for by a relative (41 percent) than by a nonrelative (35 percent), although 12 percent were regularly cared for by

both. Twenty-one percent of

preschoolers were regularly cared

for by their grandparent, and 

17 percent by their father. Care by

other relatives (9 percent), or by

siblings, or the mother while she

worked was less frequent (about 

4 percent, each). 

About one-fifth of preschoolers

were cared for in organized facilities, with day care centers (12 percent) being more commonly used

than nursery schools or preschools

(6 percent). Overall, other nonrelatives provided home-based care to

17 percent of preschoolers, with 

7 percent being cared for by family

day care providers. 

Over one-third of preschoolers 

(7.2 million) had no regular child

care arrangement during the month

preceding the interview.2 Table 2

shows that this statistic varies by

2 U.S. Census Bureau

1 Since some children are in more than

one type of arrangement, the total number

of arrangements exceeds the actual number

of children. The estimates in this report are

based on responses from a sample of the

population. As with all surveys, estimates

may vary from the actual (population) values

because of sampling variation, or other factors. All statements have undergone statistical testing and meet Census Bureau standards for statistical accuracy. 2 The majority of children with no regular

arrangement (6.4 million) live with a designated parent who is not employed and are most

likely under the supervision of their parent

during the day. For those preschoolers with

an employed designated parent, not having a

regular child care arrangement during work

hours may indicate instability in child care

arrangements or difficulty in identifying what

is used regularly. It does not necessarily indicate that no one looked after the child. 

the employment status of the mother — more preschoolers of nonemployed mothers than those of

employed mothers were not cared

for in a regular child care arrangement and were presumably in

parental care (71 percent and 7 percent, respectively).3

Very few preschoolers lived only

with their unmarried father (2 percent); the remainder lived with both

their mother and father or with an

3 Results from multivariate logistic

regression predicting the odds of a preschooler of an employed mother not having

a regular child care arrangement show that

the odds of not having a regular arrangement were higher for preschoolers living

with married mothers compared with those

living with never-married mothers. The odds

of not having a regular arrangement were

also higher for preschoolers whose mother

worked fewer hours; for those whose mother worked a nonday shift; and for infants

compared with older preschoolers. The

analysis controlled for other characteristics

shown in Table 2.

unmarried mother. Mothers remain

involved as care providers for their

preschoolers even when they do not

live with them. Table 2 shows that

30 percent of preschoolers living

with their father without their mother in the household were regularly

cared for by their mother at some

time while their father was working

or attending school. Grandparents

too, were an important source of

child care providing 26 percent of

child care arrangements for children

living with single fathers.

The child care arrangements of

preschoolers living with mothers

varies by the employment status of

the mother. Among employed

mothers, the child’s father and

grandparent(s) played a prominent

role in the care of preschoolers,

with approximately 30 percent of

preschoolers in each of these types

CHILD CARE DEFINITIONS

The universe of respondents in the SIPP child care module consists of

adults who are the parents of children under 15 years old. A designated

parent is selected in households where both parents are present to

report child care arrangements for each child. In married-couple families, the mother is the designated parent. If the mother is not available

for an interview, proxy responses are accepted from the father or husband. In single-parent families, the resident parent is the designated

parent. If neither parent is in the household, the guardian is the designated parent. Designated parents include biological, step- and adoptive

parents, or other relatives/nonrelatives acting as a guardian in the

absence of parents. In this report, unless otherwise noted, the term parent is used to refer to the designated parent. 

Child care providers can be broadly classified as being relatives or nonrelatives of children. Relatives include mothers, fathers, siblings, grandparents, and other relatives such as aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Nonrelatives include in-home babysitters, neighbors, friends, and other

nonrelatives providing care either in the child’s or the provider’s home, in

addition to family day care providers who are nonrelatives who care for

one or more unrelated children in the provider’s home. An organized

child care facility is a day care center, nursery school, or preschool. To

present a comprehensive view of the regular weekly experiences of children under 15 years old, this report also shows the incidence of children

enrolled in school and enrichment activities (such as sports, lessons,

clubs, and after- and before-school programs), and the time children are

in self-care situations.
of arrangements. Other relatives,

including siblings, cared for about

15 percent of preschoolers of

employed mothers. Some

preschoolers were cared for by their

mother while she worked (5 percent).

Organized child care facilities also

were important sources of child care

arrangements for employed mothers

with preschool-age children.4

Employed mothers relied on day

care centers (19 percent) more than

nursery or preschools (7 percent) or

Head Start programs or school 

(4 percent). Children under 5 years

old were also cared for by family

day care providers (13 percent),

U.S. Census Bureau 3

4 Organized facilities include day care

centers, nursery or preschools, or federal

Head Start programs. For these younger

children, the small proportion of children

enrolled in kindergarten and grade school

also is included in this overall category.

other nonrelatives in the provider’s

home (10 percent),5 and nonrelatives

in the child’s home (6 percent), such

as babysitters, housekeepers providing child care services, nannies, and 

au pairs.

In contrast to the overwhelming use

of regular child care arrangements

among preschoolers of employed

mothers, use of regular child care

tends to be less common among

preschoolers of nonemployed mothers. In Spring 1997, 29 percent of

the 9.1 million preschoolers of nonemployed mothers had at least one

regular child care arrangement.6

Grandparents were an important

5 This likely includes friends or neighbors

of the family who were not officially licensed

as family day care providers. 6 Information on child care by the mother

or father is not asked for the time that the

designated parent is not working nor attending school.

care provider, with 11 percent of

children being cared for in this type

of arrangement. Similar percentages

of preschoolers of nonemployed

mothers were cared for in day care

centers, nursery or preschools, or

Head Start programs, or school —

about 4 percent each. Although not

as prevalent as with employed mothers, some nonemployed mothers are

clearly using formal child care settings for enrichment purposes, educational development, or early childhood socialization.

Despite the relatively high prevalence of child care use among

preschoolers with a nonemployed

mother, use of multiple child care

arrangements (two or more arrangements) was very uncommon (7 percent). In comparison, many more

preschoolers of employed mothers

Table 1.

Preschoolers in Different Types of Child Care Arrangements: Spring 1997

(Numbers in thousands)

Arrangement type Number of

children

Percent in

arrangement

90-percent confidence interval

Lower bound Upper bound

Total children under 5 years ............................ 19,611 100.0 (NA) (NA)

IN A REGULAR ARRANGEMENT ...................... 12,419 63.3 62.1 64.5

Relative Care ........................................ 8,090 41.3 40.1 42.5

Mother1 ............................................ 702 3.6 3.1 4.1

Father1

............................................. 3,304 16.8 15.9 17.7

Sibling ............................................. 680 3.5 3.0 0.5

Grandparent ........................................ 4,116 21.0 20.9 21.1

Other relative ....................................... 1,819 9.3 8.6 10.0

Nonrelative Care ..................................... 6,937 35.4 34.2 36.6

Organized care facility ............................... 3,933 20.1 19.1 21.1

Day care center ................................... 2,273 11.6 10.8 12.4

Nursery or preschool .............................. 1,108 5.7 5.0 6.2

Head Start........................................ 171 0.9 0.7 1.1

School ........................................... 582 3.0 2.6 3.4

Other nonrelative care ............................... 3,413 17.4 16.4 18.4

In child’s home.................................... 831 4.2 3.7 4.7

In provider’s home................................. 2,614 13.3 12.4 14.2

Family day care ................................. 1,426 7.3 6.6 8.0

Other care arrangement.......................... 1,250 6.4 5.8 7.0

Self Care ............................................ 57 0.3 0.2 0.4

NO REGULAR ARRANGEMENT ....................... 7,192 36.7 35.5 37.9

NA Not applicable.

1

Only asked for the time the designated parent was working or in school.

Note: Numbers of children in specified arrangements and percentages may exceed the total or 100.0 because of multiple arrangements.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1996 Panel Wave 4.
4 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2.

Preschoolers in Different Types of Child Care Arrangements by Employment Status of

Mother and Selected Characteristics: Spring 1997

(Percent of children)

Relative Organized care facility Other nonrelative Other

Number In provider’s

home Characteristic of

children Day No In

(in Sibling/ care Nursery/ Head In Family regular multiple

thou- Grand- other cen- pre- Start/ child’s day arrange- arrangesands) Mother1 Father1 parent relative ter school school2 home care Other ment3 ments4

Total children under 5

years .................. 19,611 3.6 16.8 21.0 12.2 11.6 5.7 3.8 4.2 7.3 6.4 36.7 19.0

Living with father5 . . . . . . . 417 29.5 1.1 25.9 14.0 12.1 1.9 2.8 1.7 6.3 7.5 23.4 18.4

Living with mother6 ...... 19,195 3.0 17.2 20.9 12.2 11.6 5.7 3.8 4.3 7.3 6.3 37.0 19.0

MOTHER EMPLOYED

Number of children ...... 10,116 5.1 30.6 29.6 14.8 18.9 7.0 4.2 5.5 13.0 9.8 6.6 30.2

Race and Hispanic Origin

White ................. 8,154 6.0 32.8 28.8 13.7 18.6 7.2 3.4 5.9 13.9 10.1 7.0 31.7

Non-Hispanic ......... 6,999 6.6 34.2 28.4 12.8 20.0 7.7 2.7 5.9 15.0 9.8 7.3 33.8

Black ................. 1,525 1.1 16.8 32.2 20.3 21.1 6.0 8.7 4.0 7.3 7.1 5.9 20.7

Asian and Pacific

Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 2.0 39.3 34.2 17.2 14.7 7.4 4.3 4.5 16.1 13.8 2.1 34.8

Hispanic (of any race) . . . 1,224 2.1 24.6 30.8 19.0 10.6 4.1 7.0 6.0 7.6 13.1 5.1 19.4

Marital Status

Married7 ............... 7,659 5.9 36.1 26.4 12.9 18.0 7.7 3.4 5.7 14.3 9.5 7.2 31.7

Separated, divorced,

widowed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 897 3.8 13.9 33.5 21.1 25.5 5.6 7.2 5.2 10.1 12.1 5.1 26.5

Never married .......... 1,560 2.1 13.5 43.0 20.9 19.2 4.3 6.5 4.9 8.3 9.9 4.6 25.2

Poverty Status8

In poverty.............. 1,199 6.0 27.9 34.5 22.4 14.4 0.8 6.7 4.5 6.8 8.1 7.1 26.4

Not in poverty .......... 8,835 5.0 31.2 29.0 13.8 19.5 7.8 3.8 5.7 13.9 9.9 6.6 30.8

Child’s Age

Less than 1 year........ 1,773 5.4 33.4 32.2 15.0 14.7 0.2 – 4.3 10.9 11.5 9.3 27.7

1 to 2 years ............ 4,101 5.0 32.0 32.0 14.3 18.5 3.2 0.8 5.8 14.6 9.7 6.1 30.3

3 to 4 years ............ 4,241 5.1 28.1 26.2 15.3 20.9 13.5 9.2 5.8 12.3 9.1 6.1 31.3

Employment Schedule

Employed full time ...... 6,470 2.4 27.0 28.8 15.1 23.1 7.4 4.5 5.5 15.1 10.2 5.6 29.8

Employed part time...... 3,646 10.0 37.1 31.1 14.4 11.3 6.4 3.7 5.6 9.2 9.0 8.5 31.1

Shift Work Status

Worked day shift........ 6,415 4.3 26.1 28.8 13.9 22.4 7.4 4.4 4.8 15.1 10.5 5.4 28.4

Worked nonday shift..... 3,700 6.5 38.5 31.1 16.5 12.8 6.3 3.9 6.9 9.3 8.6 8.8 33.5

MOTHER NOT

EMPLOYED9

Number of children ...... 9,079 (NI) (NI) 11.1 9.3 3.5 4.3 3.4 2.9 1.0 2.5 70.7 6.5

Race and Hispanic Origin

White ................. 7,375 (NI) (NI) 10.6 8.1 3.4 4.7 3.0 3.0 1.0 2.4 72.0 6.4

Non-Hispanic ......... 5,629 (NI) (NI) 11.4 8.4 3.8 5.6 2.7 3.6 1.2 2.6 70.2 7.4

Black ................. 1,247 (NI) (NI) 16.5 16.9 4.9 2.4 5.5 2.5 0.8 3.6 60.5 8.5

Asian and Pacific

Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 (NI) (NI) 6.4 5.1 0.6 2.8 5.4 1.1 – 0.7 83.6 2.6

Hispanic (of any race) . . . 1,901 (NI) (NI) 7.4 7.2 2.0 1.8 4.0 1.0 0.3 1.5 78.3 3.2

Marital Status

Married7 ............... 6,631 (NI) (NI) 8.5 7.0 3.1 4.8 2.9 3.2 0.8 2.0 74.8 5.7

Separated, divorced,

widowed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707 (NI) (NI) 17.2 16.1 3.4 4.3 7.1 3.5 2.4 3.7 61.0 10.8

Never married .......... 1,741 (NI) (NI) 18.8 14.9 5.0 2.5 3.9 1.6 0.9 3.9 59.2 7.5

Poverty Status8

In poverty.............. 2,966 (NI) (NI) 11.2 10.4 3.1 2.8 5.2 2.7 0.8 2.8 70.4 5.9

Not in poverty .......... 5,803 (NI) (NI) 11.2 8.8 3.6 5.3 2.5 3.1 1.1 2.2 70.9 7.1

Child’s Age

Less than 1 year........ 1,866 (NI) (NI) 11.4 8.2 1.7 0.6 – 2.3 0.2 2.9 77.1 6.5

1 to 2 years ............ 3,681 (NI) (NI) 12.4 9.4 3.4 1.1 – 3.3 0.8 2.3 71.9 5.8

3 to 4 years ............ 3,532 (NI) (NI) 9.7 9.7 4.4 9.7 8.9 2.8 1.5 2.5 66.2 7.1

– Represents or rounds to zero. NI Not included because those looking for work or not employed were not asked the questions on parental arrangements.

1

Only asked for the time the designated parent was working or in school. 2Includes children in a federal Head Start program and in kindergarten or grade

school. 3

For employed mothers, not having a regular child care arrangement during work hours may indicate instability in child care arrangements or difficulty

in identifying what is regularly used. It does not necessarily indicate that no one looked after the child. 4

Multiple arrangements include being cared for by two

or more child care arrangements, excluding school and self care. 5

Mother not present in the household, thus the father is the designated parent. Child care

arrangement types are not shown by father’s employment status because of small sample size. 6

Includes children living with both mother and father if both

parents are present, thus the mother is the designated parent. 7

Includes married spouse present and spouse absent (excluding separated). 8Excludes

those with missing income data. 9

Includes those mothers who are in school (746,000), or other mothers looking for work (553,000), or other mothers not in

the labor force (7,780,000).

Note: Numbers of children in specified arrangements may exceed the total because of multiple arrangements. Data not shown for 57,000 children who are

reported to be in self care.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1996 Panel Wave 4.
were in multiple arrangements 

(30 percent).

Number of Hours Spent 

in Child Care

The number of hours children

spend in different arrangements can

shed light on how and with whom

children are spending significant

periods of the day. In Spring 1997,

preschoolers spent on average 

37 hours per week in child care7 —

those with employed mothers spent

more time overall in child care than

those with nonemployed mothers

(37 hours per week and 25 hours

per week, respectively).8 For children of employed mothers, the total

U.S. Census Bureau 5

7 Overall average hours are based on

those who report using at least one child care

arrangement and are for all arrangements

combined. Average hours for each specific

arrangement type are based on those who

report using that specific arrangement. 8 Based on tabulations not shown in the

figure.

hours spent in child care includes

the time spent in mother and father

care while the mother was working.

If time in parental care is excluded,

preschoolers of employed mothers

spent, on average, 30 hours per

week in nonparental child care.

Figure 1 shows the average time

preschoolers spent in selected child

care arrangements by the employment status of the mother.

Preschoolers of employed mothers

spent, on average, consistently

more hours per week in child care

for each specified arrangement

compared with preschoolers of nonemployed mothers. Preschoolers of

employed mothers who were cared

for by a grandparent spent 

24 hours per week in grandparent

care, not significantly different than

the time preschoolers spent in nursery or preschools, or in nonrelative

care in the child’s home. For both

employed and nonemployed mothers, those preschoolers who were

cared for in day care centers spent

a substantial number of hours per

week in that arrangement.

Family Characteristics

This section shows variations in

child care use by family characteristics such as race and Hispanic origin, marital status, family income,

child’s age, and employment characteristics.

Race and Hispanic origin

Table 2 shows that across all race

and ethnic groups, employed

mothers relied on relatives as child

care providers. In Spring 1997,

White non-Hispanic preschoolers

were more likely to be cared for by

their father (34 percent) than their

grandparent (28 percent), but both

were prominent sources of child

care.9 Asian and Pacific Islander

preschoolers also relied heavily on

their fathers (39 percent) and their

grandparents (34 percent) as care

providers although these percentages were not different from each

other. However, Black preschoolers

were more likely to be cared for by

their grandparent (32 percent) than

their father (17 percent). No statistical differences were found in the

proportion of Hispanic children

cared for by their grandparent 

(31 percent) or their father (25 percent). 

Among children of employed mothers, day care centers were used by

about 20 percent of Black children

and White non-Hispanic children,

while another 6 to 8 percent also

9 Categories are not exclusive. Hispanics

may be of any race. Data for the American

Indian and Alaska Native population are not

shown in this report because of their small

sample size in the Survey of Income and

Program Participation (SIPP) in the 1996 panel.

Based on the 1996 SIPP Panel, Wave 4 child

care data, 5 percent of the Black population

and 6 percent of the Asian and Pacific Islander

population are also of Hispanic origin.

Figure 1.

Average Time Preschoolers Spent in Selected Care 

Arrangements by Employment Status 

of Mother: Spring 1997

Note: Not employed includes mothers who are in school, or other mothers looking for 

work, or other mothers out of the labor force.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 

1996 Panel Wave 4.

(Average hours per week among children in specified care arrangement)

Other nonrelative

Family day care

Nonrelative in child's home

Nursery/preschool

Day care center

Grandparent

Other nonrelative

Family day care

Nonrelative in child's home

Nursery/preschool

Day care center

Grandparent

27

32

23

24

35

24

14

21

12

9

15

15

Mother employed

Mother not employed
used nursery or preschools.

Hispanic children used day care centers less frequently (11 percent).

About one-third of White nonHispanic children and Asian and

Pacific Islander children used multiple child care compared with about 1

out of 5 Black or Hispanic children.

For preschoolers of nonemployed

mothers, a higher percentage of

children of Black women than of

children in the other race and ethnic

groups were in child care arrangements (40 percent compared with

30 percent for White non-Hispanic,

16 percent for Asian and Pacific

Islander, and 22 percent for

Hispanics). Grandparents and siblings/other relatives were important

sources of child care for Black,

White non-Hispanic, and Hispanic

nonemployed mothers.

Marital status

Preschoolers of married employed

mothers were more likely to rely on

fathers as care providers (36 percent), compared with children of

never-married employed mothers

(14 percent). Instead, children of

never-married mothers relied on

grandparents and other relatives to

a greater extent. This finding

underscores the importance of living arrangements in determining

father involvement in the care of

their children.

Children under 5 years old of previously-married10 employed mothers

were cared for in day care centers

(26 percent) more than were

preschoolers of married mothers

(18 percent) or never-married mothers (19 percent). Previously-married

employed mothers, despite the marital disruption they experienced,

still utilized the child’s father as a

provider for 14 percent of their children.

-

)

ll

r

t

-

e

h

-

6 U.S. Census Bureau

10 Previously-married includes those who

are separated, divorced, or widowed.

Poverty status

Families in poverty with an

employed mother relied to a greater

extent on grandparents (35 percent), fathers (28 percent), and

other relatives (22 percent) than on

day care centers (14 percent), or

family day care providers (7 percent), for their preschoolers while

the mother was working. For families not in poverty, children were

equally likely to be cared for by

their father and grandparent (about

30 percent each).

Higher proportions of nonpoor

preschoolers were cared for in day

care centers and nursery or

preschools than of poor preschoolers, probably due to the higher cost

for these types of arrangements.

On the other hand, poor preschoolers (7 percent) were more likely to

be enrolled in Head Start or school

programs than nonpoor preschoolers (4 percent). 

Child’s age 

Use of day care centers among

preschoolers of employed mothers

increased by age from 15 percent

among children less than 1 year old

to about 20 percent for children 1

to 2 years old and 3 to 4 years old.

This increase suggests that as children age, school readiness may

weigh in as an important factor in

the choice of child care, thus

explaining the high proportion of

children 3 to 4 years old in organized facilities.

Care by grandparents is important

for infants, making up 32 percent

of arrangements for children under

1 year among employed mothers.

Fathers too, play a large role in the

care of infants of employed mothers (33 percent).

Employment characteristics

Overall, preschoolers of mothers

who worked full time in Spring

1997 were more likely to be in nonrelative care arrangements, such as

in day care centers (23 percent) and

in family day care providers (15 per

cent) than were preschoolers of

mothers who worked part time 

(11 percent and 9 percent, respectively). On the other hand,

preschoolers of mothers who work

part time were more likely to be

cared for by their father (37 percent

than those of mothers who work fu

time (27 percent).11 This suggests

that mothers are either arranging

their work schedules to foster fathe

care or fathers are pitching in when

mothers are working.

Mothers who worked a nonday shif

mentioned the father as being a

care provider more frequently than

did mothers who worked day shifts

(39 percent and 26 percent, respec

tively).12 Mothers who worked day

shifts, on the other hand, relied on

day care centers or family day care

providers more than those mothers

who worked nonday shifts. These

child care patterns are probably du

to both the high prevalence of bot

fathers and mothers who work day

time shifts and the difficulty of

securing organized care arrangements or other family day care during evenings and weekends. 

A higher proportion of preschoolers

of mothers who worked a nonday

shift were in multiple arrangements

than those of mothers who worked

a regular daytime shift (34 percent

compared with 28 percent, respectively). However, a substantial proportion of children of mothers who

worked nonday shifts reported no

regular arrangement at all (9 percent). This suggests that mothers

working nonday shifts may have

11 Full-time work is defined as working

35 or more hours per week in the month

preceding the interview. 12 Day shift is defined as usually working

the majority of one’s hours between 8:00

a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Other work schedules

are defined as nonday shifts.
more difficulty securing regular

arrangements and when they do,

may have to juggle arrangements.

The latter may be the case especially among women working nonday

shifts who have rotating or irregular

schedules.

How common is it for families with

an employed mother to arrange their

work schedules such that they do

not need to rely on anyone other

than the child’s parents to provide

care? Figure 2 shows that overall,

14 percent of preschoolers of

employed mothers were in parental

care only (i.e., they were cared for by

their mother and/or father and not

by any other arrangements). While

10 percent of preschoolers of

employed mothers who worked a

day shift were cared for only by their

parents, the proportion was twice as

high for those whose mother worked

a nonday shift (20 percent).

Likewise, preschoolers of mothers

who worked fewer hours per week

were more likely to be cared for by

parents only. In contrast, those

U.S. Census Bureau 7

14

20

10

27

21

9

18

14

11

3 and 4

years

1 and 2

years

Less than

1 year

35 or more

hours

15 to 34

hours

1 to 14

hours

Day

shift

Nonday

shift

Total

Figure 2.

Percent of Preschoolers Cared for Only by Their Parents, by Employed Mother's 

Work Shift and Hours Worked, and Child's Age: Spring 1997

Note: Includes preschoolers of employed mothers only.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1996 Panel Wave 4.

Mother's shift Mother's hours worked Child's age

COMPARABILITY OF 

THE SPRING 1997 DATA 

TO PREVIOUS SIPP CHILD CARE DATA

There are several important points to consider when comparing the

Spring 1997 SIPP child care data to previous SIPP child care data. For the

first time, child care data were collected using a computer assisted personal interview (CAPI) system/instrument rather than using a paper

questionnaire instrument. In addition, two important changes were

made to the questionnaire to improve data collection. 

First, the number of child care categories were expanded, and respondents were allowed to answer that no regular arrangement was used.

Second, instead of collecting data only on the primary and secondary

arrangements, the questions solicited responses on all arrangements

used, emphasizing those that were used on a regular basis for both

preschoolers of employed and nonemployed parents. The primary

arrangement in this report is derived from answers on the number of

hours each arrangement is used each week, rather than from a direct

question asking for the primary arrangement as was used in past surveys. 

Finally, due to the survey implementation schedule, the child care questions were asked in spring rather than fall. Thus, child care changes

observed between 1997 and previous years may reflect seasonal differences in child care use and availability of providers, such as closing of

preschools and seasonal variations in school activities or sports for

grade-school-age children. For these reasons, caution should be used

when comparing the Spring 1997 data to prior survey years.
whose mothers worked 35 or more

hours per week were least likely to

be cared for by parents only (9 percent). Clearly, employed mothers are

arranging their work schedules —

either by working nonday shifts or

reduced hours — to balance work

and family responsibilities, encourage father involvement in the care of

children, and/or reduce the cost of

child care. 

The SIPP data show that 18 percent

of children less than 1 year old of

employed mothers were cared for

by their parents only. This proportion decreases with children’s age,

such that 11 percent of 3 to 4 year

olds of employed mothers were

cared for only by their parents.

This decline by age may result both

from the concerns by parents to

provide close family-based care for

infants and also to provide socializing experiences to the children once

they grow older. 

Historical Trends in the Primary

Child Care Arrangement of

Employed Mothers

Table 3 presents data on historical

distributions of primary child care

arrangements for preschoolers of

employed mothers since the first

SIPP child care survey was conducted in 1985.13 The primary child

care arrangement is defined as the

arrangement used the most hours

per week during the time the

8 U.S. Census Bureau

13 Before 1995, data are shown only for

the primary arrangements. Data for 1995

and 1997 distribute the “tied” responses proportionally for the primary arrangement to

make the distributions comparable to prior

survey years. In addition, the option for

reporting that no regular arrangement was

used was not available before 1995.

mother was at work. In Spring

1997, 10.1 million preschoolers

lived with employed mothers, up

from 8.2 million in 1985. Almost

half (48 percent) were cared for by

either a parent (including the mother herself) or by some other relative

in 1997. Organized child care facilities and other types of nonrelatives

made up less than half (44 percent)

of all primary arrangements in

Spring 1997. Six percent mentioned that they did not have a regular arrangement at all.

Changes in the survey design over

the period make comparisons difficult for recent years. In 1995, the

number of child care response categories was expanded, and in 1997,

the data collection procedure was

changed from a paper questionnaire

to a computer-based instrument. In

Table 3.

Primary Child Care Arrangements Used by Employed Mothers of Preschoolers: 1985 to

1997

(Numbers in thousands)

Type of arrangement Winter 1985 Fall 1988 Fall 1990 Fall 1991 Fall 1993 Fall 1995 Spring 1997

Total children under 5 years ............ 8,168 9,483 9,629 9,854 9,937 10,047 10,116

PERCENT DISTRIBUTION

Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Parents.............................. 23.8 22.7 22.9 28.7 22.1 22.0 22.3

Mother while working ................ 8.1 7.6 6.4 8.7 6.2 5.4 3.3

Father ............................. 15.7 15.1 16.5 20.0 15.9 16.6 19.0

Relatives ............................ 24.1 21.1 23.1 23.5 26.0 21.4 25.8

Grandparent........................ 15.9 13.9 14.3 15.8 17.0 15.9 18.4

Sibling and other relative............. 8.2 7.2 8.8 7.7 9.0 5.5 7.4

Organized facility .................... 23.1 25.8 27.5 23.1 29.9 25.1 21.7

Day care center..................... 14.0 16.6 20.6 15.8 18.3 17.7 16.6

Nursery/preschool................... 9.1 9.2 6.9 7.3 11.6 5.9 4.2

Federal Head Start program .......... (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 1.5 0.9

Other nonrelative care................ 28.2 28.9 25.1 23.3 21.6 28.4 22.1

In child’s home ..................... 5.9 5.3 5.0 5.4 5.0 4.9 4.0

In provider’s home .................. 22.3 23.6 20.1 17.9 16.6 23.5 18.1

Family day care................... (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 15.7 10.7

Other nonrelative.................. (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 7.8 7.4

Other................................ 0.8 1.6 1.3 1.6 1.1 2.9 8.1

Self care ........................... - 0.1 0.1 – – 0.1 0.1

Other arrangement1 ................. 0.8 1.5 1.2 1.6 1.1 0.6 2.0

No regular arrangement.............. (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 2.2 6.0

– Represents or rounds to zero. NA Not available.

1

Includes children in kindergarten/grade school or in a school-based activity.

Note: To make the 1995 and 1997 data consistent with prior surveys, their distributions were proportionately redistributed to account for tied responses for

the primary arrangement (including responses of no regular arrangement) to make the percentages total to 100 percent.

Source: Tabulations derived from Current Population Reports, Series P70-9 Table 1; P70-30 Table 1; P70-36 Table 1; P70-53 Table 2; P70-70 Table 1; and

this report P70-86, U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1996 Panel Wave 4.
addition, differences in work sched- continued to decrease to an all-time

ules, or the availability of other low of 3 percent in 1997. The lack

family members, organized child of a uniformly consistent trend

care facilities or family day care since 1985 in the use of specific

providers during the months of May child care arrangements makes it

and June may affect the comparabil- difficult to make projections of the

ity of the Spring 1997 data with overall mix of arrangements needed

prior data collected in the fall of in the future.

each year. Therefore, comparisons

of 1997 data with earlier years CHILDREN 5 TO 14 

should be treated with caution. YEARS OLD

This section shows the patterns and The use of nonrelatives has had an

use of child care arrangements for erratic trend over the period from

grade-school-age children. The child 1985 to 1997. In the late 1980s,

care experiences of grade-school- the proportion of preschoolers who

were in home-based, nonrelative age children differ from those of

preschool-age children primarily in care (either in the child’s home or in

that older children experience a the provider’s home) was about 28

wider array of daily activities. Two percent. By Spring 1997, only 22

important types of daily activities percent were cared for in a homebased arrangement by a nonrelative are also discussed in more detail —

use of enrichment activities and the of the child. Care by nonrelatives in

proportion of children who regularly the child’s home remained steady at

spend time in self care. approximately 5 percent from 1985

to 1995, and decreased to 4 per- Child Care Arrangements for cent in 1997. Grade-School-Age Children

During the same 12-year period, the Grade-school-age children — children

use of organized facilities for 5 to 14 years old — experience a

preschoolers fluctuated. From 1985 wider array of daily activities than do

to 1990, the proportion of preschoolers. They may have

preschoolers cared for in organized extended peer groups of friends at

facilities rose from 23 percent to school and participate in various

28 percent, but then dropped down after-school or enrichment programs

again to 23 percent in 1991. that are not available to younger

However, this proportion rose to children. To capture these activities,

30 percent in 1993, but then the child care arrangements shown

decreased to 22 percent in 1997. in the tables for grade-school-age

children differ from those shown for Rates of family and relative care

younger children. Although not gen- also have varied during this 12-year

erally considered a child care period. Care by fathers, while

arrangement, school attendance is remaining around 15 percent

also shown in this report because between 1985 and 1988, increased

the intention is to show children’s sharply to 20 percent by 1991.

various activities during the day and However, this proportion dropped

because school activities figure down to 17 percent in 1995, but

prominently in the daily lives of then increased to 19 percent in

grade-school-age children. 1997. The overall declining trend

in care by mothers while working Relatives are important contributors

was interrupted in 1991 as well, to the overall care of grade-schoolwhen it reached a level similar to age children (see Table 4). In Spring

the 1985 level. The rate then 1997, grade-school-age children

received care from other relatives,

including siblings (17 percent), from

their father (16 percent), or from a

grandparent (15 percent). 

Grade-school-age children were less

likely to be cared for by nonrelatives, such as organized care facilities or other nonrelatives in the

child’s home or the provider’s home,

than by relatives. Only 6 percent of

children 5 to 14 years old were

cared for in organized facilities, 

4 percent in the child’s home and 

7 percent in the provider’s home.

This relatively low use of nonrelatives reflects the high rate of school

enrollment for these children as

well as their involvement in other

structured activities. A very high

proportion of grade-school-age children (84 percent) were in school

and many (17 percent) participated

in enrichment activities such as

sports, lessons, clubs, and beforeor after-school programs.14 In addition, 19 percent (7.3 million) of

grade-school-age children cared for

themselves on a regular basis without any adult supervision.

In general, employed mothers were

more likely to use care arrangements than nonemployed mothers,

primarily because many care for

their children themselves if they are

not working. In Spring 1997, there

were 23.4 million grade-school-age

children whose mother was

employed, making up 62 percent of

all grade-school-age children living

with their mother.

Comparing the use of enrichment

activities and self care by the mother’s employment status reveals some

important findings. Enrichment

U.S. Census Bureau 9

14 These lower than expected school rates

are reflective of the survey implementation

dates (April, May, June, and July of 1997) in

reference to child care, school, and other

activities occurring in the preceding month.

Respondents surveyed in July may have provided answers for activities during the first

full month of summer break.
10 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4.

Grade-School-Age Children in Different Types of Arrangements by Employment Status of

Mother and Selected Characteristics: Spring 1997

(Percent of children)

Characteristic

Number

of

children

(in

thousands)

Relative Nonrelative Other

Mother1 Father1 Grandparent

Sibling/

other

relative

Organized

care

facility2

Nonrelative

in

child’s

home

Nonrelative

in provider’s

home3 School4

Enrichment

activity5 Selfcare

No

regular

arrangement6

In

multiple

arrangements7

Total children 5 to 14 years. 39,486 3.6 16.1 15.0 17.3 6.1 3.7 7.0 83.6 17.2 18.5 44.8 18.2

Living with father8 ...... 1,461 17.9 2.8 22.8 18.8 6.9 8.1 7.9 87.6 14.7 23.0 33.4 20.7

Living with mother9 .....

MOTHER EMPLOYED

38,025 3.1 16.6 14.7 17.2 6.1 3.5 7.0 83.4 17.3 18.4 45.2 18.1

Number of children .....

Race and Hispanic Origin

23,423 4.9 26.2 19.3 21.0 8.5 4.6 10.0 84.7 20.9 22.7 27.2 25.7

White ................ 18,623 5.2 27.5 18.7 19.9 8.3 4.5 10.6 84.1 22.8 23.4 28.0 26.8

Non-Hispanic ........ 15,925 5.4 28.4 18.9 19.0 9.0 4.9 10.5 83.9 24.4 24.9 27.7 27.9

Black.................

Asian and Pacific

3,638 3.2 17.1 20.6 26.2 8.8 5.5 8.3 86.9 12.7 18.8 24.4 19.5

Islander.............. 823 5.6 34.3 23.4 20.6 11.0 3.9 8.0 88.2 13.9 16.1 20.2 27.1

Hispanic (of any race) . . .

Marital Status

2,854 3.6 22.6 18.5 24.6 5.1 2.2 11.1 85.4 13.9 15.3 29.2 20.9

Married10 .............

Separated, divorced,

17,136 5.0 31.8 17.2 19.4 8.0 4.0 9.1 84.6 22.2 22.3 28.6 26.4

widowed ............. 4,364 3.9 11.1 22.2 26.0 9.2 6.1 12.5 84.6 19.9 27.2 25.9 24.9

Never married .........

Poverty Status11

1,923 6.2 10.5 32.0 23.5 11.3 6.3 12.4 85.2 11.1 15.4 17.7 21.9

In poverty ............. 2,777 6.2 21.5 20.8 2,703.0 4.6 4.5 6.9 84.9 9.1 14.7 26.2 19.4

Not in poverty..........

Child’s Age

20,439 4.7 27.0 19.1 20.1 9.0 4.5 10.5 84.7 22.5 23.7 27.2 26.6

5 to 8 years ........... 9,275 5.5 30.0 24.0 18.8 16.6 5.3 14.9 77.5 15.8 4.3 16.3 30.3

9 to 11 years .......... 7,055 5.3 26.9 19.9 25.0 5.4 5.1 10.1 88.8 25.3 21.1 25.8 27.9

12 to 14 years .........

Employment Schedule

7,094 3.6 20.5 12.6 19.8 1.0 3.1 3.6 89.9 23.0 48.2 42.8 17.6

Employed full time ..... 16,161 3.9 25.1 20.8 22.5 9.7 4.7 11.4 83.9 21.4 24.3 23.8 26.5

Employed part time .....

Shift Work Status

7,262 7.1 28.6 16.1 17.5 5.8 4.2 7.1 86.4 19.5 18.9 34.6 24.1

Worked day shift ....... 15,748 4.5 23.1 19.3 20.6 9.9 4.5 10.7 84.5 22.2 23.9 26.8 25.0

Worked nonday shift ....

MOTHER NOT

EMPLOYED12

7,675 5.6 32.5 19.3 21.7 5.6 4.7 8.6 84.9 18.1 20.0 27.9 27.2

Number of children .....

Race and Hispanic Origin

14,601 (NI) (NI) 7.3 11.3 2.3 1.9 2.1 81.4 11.6 11.5 74.1 5.8

White ................ 11,605 (NI) (NI) 6.5 10.9 2.2 1.9 1.9 81.2 13.2 12.3 74.3 5.6

Non-Hispanic ........ 8,885 (NI) (NI) 6.9 10.7 2.6 2.4 1.8 80.2 15.6 14.0 73.0 6.5

Black.................

Asian and Pacific

2,219 (NI) (NI) 11.8 12.8 2.3 1.6 3.2 81.2 5.0 6.8 72.1 6.6

Islander.............. 591 (NI) (NI) 4.3 11.7 1.2 0.4 0.5 87.7 7.9 9.7 81.6 5.0

Hispanic (of any race) . . .

Marital Status

3,005 (NI) (NI) 5.7 10.8 0.8 0.3 2.5 84.3 4.9 6.7 78.9 2.8

Married10 .............

Separated, divorced,

11,039 (NI) (NI) 5.6 10.4 2.1 1.5 1.4 81.5 12.7 11.8 76.1 5.1

widowed ............. 2,067 (NI) (NI) 11.7 14.4 2.1 2.4 3.6 82.0 11.6 13.7 68.8 7.8

Never married .........

Poverty Status11

1,496 (NI) (NI) 13.5 13.7 3.7 4.0 4.8 79.7 3.9 6.1 66.8 8.1

In poverty ............. 4,957 (NI) (NI) 8.3 13.3 2.1 2.2 3.2 80.9 6.7 9.7 73.4 5.8

Not in poverty..........

Child’s Age

9,213 (NI) (NI) 6.9 10.2 2.4 1.6 1.4 81.5 14.6 12.5 74.4 5.9

5 to 8 years ........... 6,526 (NI) (NI) 8.9 10.0 4.7 2.2 2.6 74.3 9.2 2.6 72.5 5.8

9 to 11 years .......... 4,315 (NI) (NI) 7.3 12.8 0.4 1.8 2.1 86.0 14.2 10.6 73.9 7.0

12 to 14 years ......... 3,760 (NI) (NI) 4.5 11.7 0.3 1.5 1.2 88.5 12.8 28.1 76.9 4.5

NI Not included because those looking for work or not employed were not asked the questions on parental arrangements.

1

Only asked for the time the designated parent was working or in school. 2Organized facility includes children in day care centers, nursery or preschools,

or federal Head Start programs. 3

Includes care by a family care provider and other nonrelatives in the provider’s home. 4These lower than expected school

enrollment rates reflect the responses of those who were surveyed in July in reference to June, the first month of summer break. 5

This category consists of

organized sports, lessons (such as music, art, dance, language, and computer), clubs, and before- or after-school programs located either at school or other

places. 6

For employed mothers, not having a regular child care arrangement during work hours may indicate instability in child care arrangements or difficulty

in identifying what is regularly used. It does not necessarily indicate that no one looked after the child. 7

Multiple arrangements include being cared for by two

or more child care arrangements, excluding school and self care. 8

Mother not present in the household, thus the father is the designated parent. Child care

arrangement types are not shown by father’s employment status because of small sample size. 9

Includes children living with both mother and father if both

parents are present, thus the mother is the designated parent. 10Includes married spouse present and spouse absent (excluding separated). 11Excludes

those with missing income data. 12Includes those mothers who are in school (880,000), or other mothers looking for work (1,142,000), or other mothers not in

the labor force (12,580,000).

Note: Numbers of children in specified arrangements may exceed the total because of multiple arrangements.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1996 Panel Wave 4.
activities include participation in

organized sports, lessons (such as

music, art, language, and computer

lessons), clubs (for example,

scouts), and before- or after-school

programs located either at school or

other places. Twenty-one percent of

children of employed mothers participated regularly in at least one

enrichment activity on a weekly

basis, while only 12 percent of

those of nonemployed mothers did

so. Among children of employed

mothers, 23 percent regularly spent

time in self care. This figure is

almost twice the proportion for

grade-school-age children of nonemployed mothers (12 percent).

Enrichment Activities

Because there is interest in a comprehensive view of the regular weekly experiences of children, greater

detail is provided on enrichment

U.S. Census Bureau 11

activities. For some parents, enrichment activities may be considered a

form of child care. In Spring 1997,

6.8 million children ages of 6 to 14

(19 percent) participated in at least

one enrichment activity considered

by the parent to be a child care

arrangement during the week (see

Table 5).15 The most frequently mentioned enrichment activity for gradeschool-age children was sports 

(10 percent). Similar proportions of

grade-school-age children participated in lessons and clubs (6 percent),

and a smaller proportion participated

in before- or after-school programs

(4 percent). 

Participation in sports activities is

more common among children 9 to

11 and 12 to 14 than among children 6 to 8 years old. Table 5 also

15 The questions regarding participation

in enrichment activities were asked for children 6 to 14 years old.

shows that younger children were

less likely to participate in lessons

and clubs than older children.

However, children 6 to 8 participated in before- and after-school programs slightly more frequently than

older children.

Enrichment activities may be costly

in terms of money and time to

transport children to and from the

site. Table 5 shows that participation in enrichment activities increases as financial resources to the family increases. For example, while

only 3 percent of children living in

poor families participated in organized sports, 7 percent of those living just above the poverty level and

14 percent of those living at 200

percent and above poverty did.

Overall, children living in families at

200 percent of poverty level or

more were about three times as

likely to participate in any type of

Table 5.

Participation in Enrichment Activities as a Child Care Arrangement Among Children

6 to 14 Years Old: Spring 1997

Characteristic Number

of

children

Participation in enrichment activities as child care arrangement

Total1 Sports Lessons Clubs Before/after-school

program

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

2 Children 6 to 14 years .....

Child’s Age

35,338 6,797 19.2 3,553 10.1 2,265 6.4 2,291 6.5 1,470 4.2

6 to 8 years ............. 12,130 2,111 17.4 907 7.5 595 4.9 644 5.3 703 5.8

9 to 11 years ............ 11,842 2,475 20.9 1,266 10.7 901 7.6 921 7.8 526 4.4

12 to 14 years ...........

Poverty Status3

Less than 100 percent of

11,365 2,210 19.4 1,379 12.1 770 6.8 726 6.4 241 2.1

poverty ................

100 to 199 percent of

7,096 601 8.5 227 3.2 166 2.3 251 3.5 152 2.1

poverty.................

200 percent and above

8,905 1,283 14.4 612 6.9 334 3.8 410 4.6 277 3.1

poverty.................

Employment Schedule of

Designated Parent

18,700 4,849 25.9 2,683 14.3 1,737 9.3 1,628 8.7 1,026 5.5

Not employed............ 13,190 1,750 13.3 962 7.3 660 5.0 713 5.4 158 1.2

Employed ............... 22,148 5,047 22.8 2,591 11.7 1,605 7.2 1,579 7.1 1,311 5.9

Full time .............. 15,504 3,626 23.4 1,800 11.6 1,085 7.0 1,037 6.7 1,056 6.8

Part time .............. 6,644 1,420 21.4 791 11.9 520 7.8 542 8.2 255 3.8

1

This category consists of organized sports, lessons (such as music, art, dance, language, computer), clubs, and before- or after-school programs located

either at school or other places. Children may participate in more than one type of activity. 2

Enrichment activity questions were asked only of children 6 to 14 years old.

3

Excludes those with missing income data.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1996 Panel Wave 4.
enrichment activity (26 percent) than those whose designated parent on whether the parent was

than were children living below the was not employed, but grade-school- employed full- or part-time.

poverty level (9 percent). age children participated at similar However, participation in clubs and

rates regardless of whether their par- in before- or after-school programs Grade-school-age children of ent worked full- or part-time. did vary by the full- or part-time employed parents were more likely Participation in sports and lessons employment status of the parent. to participate in enrichment activities did not vary significantly depending

12 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 6.

Prevalence of Self Care Among Grade-School-Age Children: Spring 1997

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic

Age

Total 5 to 11 12 to 14

Total children 5 to 14 years ...................................... 39,486 28,120 11,365

Number in self care ..........................................

PERCENT OF CHILDREN IN SELF CARE BY CHARACTERISTIC

AND AGE OF CHILD

7,324 2,603 4,721

Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Type of Arrangement1

Percent using self care as:

18.5 9.3 41.5

Primary arrangement ....................................... 1.2 0.3 4.1

Secondary arrangement..................................... 17.3 16.2 21.3

Tertiary arrangement........................................

Marital Status of Designated Parent

8.4 7.2 13.9

Married2

..................................................... 18.2 9.3 40.5

Separated, divorced, widowed ................................. 23.4 11.0 47.5

Never married ...............................................

Employment Schedule of Designated Parent

11.3 6.2 32.6

Not employed................................................ 11.7 5.9 28.2

Employed ................................................... 22.7 11.4 48.5

Full time .................................................. 24.4 11.6 51.9

Part time .................................................. 18.9 11.0 39.4

Worked day shift ........................................... 24.0 12.0 50.1

Worked nonday shift ........................................

Poverty Status3

20.1 10.2 44.9

Less than 100 percent of poverty............................... 11.7 5.4 28.9

100 to 199 percent of poverty.................................. 15.3 8.2 34.4

200 percent and above poverty ................................

Race and Hispanic Origin

22.8 11.2 49.6

White ....................................................... 19.4 9.4 44.2

Non-Hispanic .............................................. 21.2 10.4 46.7

Black ....................................................... 14.2 7.9 30.3

Asian and Pacific Islander ..................................... 13.4 7.4 26.3

Hispanic (of any race) ........................................

Enrichment Activities

11.0 5.0 29.6

Participated in an activity ...................................... 31.1 17.4 59.7

Did not participate in an activity ................................

HOURS PER WEEK IN SELF CARE AMONG CHILDREN

IN SELF CARE

15.9 7.7 37.2

Average hours per week ........................................

Number of Hours per Week (percent distribution)

8.2 6.4 9.2

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0

Less than 2 hours ............................................ 13.3 17.8 10.8

2 to 4 hours ................................................. 26.6 31.7 23.7

5 to 9 hours ................................................. 30.3 30.3 30.4

10 or more hours............................................. 29.8 20.3 35.1

1

Primary includes children with one or more arrangements; secondary includes children with two or more arrangements; tertiary includes children with three

or more arrangements. 2

Includes married spouse present and spouse absent (excluding separated).

3

Excludes those with missing income data.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1996 Panel Wave 4.
Self Care

Grade-school-age children often

spend time in self care. They do so

sometimes because parents experience difficulty in securing supervised arrangements. However,

among older children, self care can

be an important part of the natural

process of independence, allowing

children structured opportunities for

successful transitions to adulthood.

While some children may encounter

self care in a safe environment, with

neighbors and parents checking in

periodically, other children may

experience self care in a less structured and less safe environment.

Parents base their decisions to allow

their children to care for themselves

on a number of factors including the

age and maturity of the child, the

environment in which the child will

be in self care, the financial

resources and parental time available to provide alternative care

arrangements, and the perceived

risks associated with self care. 

Estimates of self care

In Spring 1997, 7.3 million (19 percent) of the 39.5 million children 5

to 14 years old were reported by

their parent to care for themselves

on a regular basis during a typical

week in the month preceding the

interview16 (see Table 6). The majority of the children in self care were

of middle-school age, 12 to 14 years

old (65 percent). The use of self

care ranges from 1 percent among 5

year olds to 47 percent among 14

year olds. Grade-school-age children are shown in Table 6 for two

age groups that generally represent

age cut-offs for elementary and middle school (5 to 11 years old and 12

to 14 years old). Nine percent of

children 5 to 11 years old and 

U.S. Census Bureau 13

16 After all child care information (arrangement types used, hours spent per week, and

costs paid per week) was collected, a separate question regarding whether the child

usually cared for himself or herself and the

hours spent in self care per week was asked.

42 percent of children 12 to 14

years old were in self care.

Children 5 to 14 years old spent an

average of 8 hours per week in self

care among those who were reported to regularly be in self care situations. Sixty percent spent 5 or

more hours per week in self care,

and 30 percent spent 10 or more

hours per week in self care.

Children 12 to 14 years old spent

an average of 9 hours per week in

self care compared with 6 hours per

week for children 5 to 11 years old.

The older group was more likely

than the younger group of children

to spend 10 or more hours per

week in self care (35 percent and

20 percent, respectively).

Parental time

Research indicates that the prevalence of self care is associated with

the amount of parental time available to care for children, which in

turn, depends on family structure

and labor force participation.17 In

Spring 1997, grade-school-age children living with a previously-married

parent were more likely to be in self

care (23 percent) than were those

living with a married parent (18 percent) or a never-married parent 

(11 percent). This pattern is also

seen for children 12 to14 years old. 

Patterns of self care vary also by

the labor force participation of the

parent. Grade-school-age children

of employed parents were more

likely than those whose parent was

not employed to care for themselves, and children whose parent

17 Virginia Cain and Sandra Hofferth.

“Parental Choice of Self-care for School-age

Children.” Journal of Marriage and the Family.

51(1994):65-77; Harriet Presser. “Can We

Make Time for Children? The Economy, Work

Schedules, and Child Care.” Demography.

26(1998):523-543. Kristin Smith and Lynne

Casper. “Home Alone: Reasons Parents Leave

Their Children Unsupervised.” Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Population

Association of America. New York, NY, March

1999.

Figure 3.

Percent Distribution of Time Spent in Self Care 

Among Grade-School-Age Children by Labor Force 

Characteristics of Designated Parent: 1997

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 

1996 Panel Wave 4.

Hours in self 

care per week

Works

nonday shift

Works day

shift

Works

full time

Works

part time

Not Employed

employed

10 hours 

or more

5 to 9 hours

Less than 

5 hours

17

34

23

37 35 31

29

31

27

32 31

29

54

35

50

31 34 40
worked full time were more likely to the month prior to the interview. 91 percent of preschoolers cared for

be in self care than those whose These months include time periods by a family day care provider and 

parent worked part time (24 per- when children may have been off 86 percent of those in a day care

cent compared with 19 percent). from school or other arrangements center were in a paid arrangement.

Children of parents who worked a may have been used, for example The most expensive form of nonreladay shift were also more likely to relatives or older children available tive care was use of day care centers

be in self care at some point during in the household because they were ($83 per week). Family day care was

the week compared with children off from school. For prior surveys, the second most costly, averaging

whose parent worked a nonday data were collected for the fall $68 per week. 

shift, which suggests that some months of September-December. Among preschoolers of employed parents may work evening or week- Seasonal differences in arrange- mothers, hourly payments to day end schedules to avoid leaving their ments, which can effect child care care centers ($3.51 per hour) were child unsupervised. costs, may affect the comparability higher than those paid to nursery of the 1997 data with prior surveys. Figure 3 shows the distribution of and preschools, nonrelatives in the

time spent in self care by labor force child’s home (for example, nannies Children under 5 years old

characteristics of the designated and babysitters), to family day care In Spring 1997, child care payments parent. Grade-school-age children centers, and care by other relatives were made for 6.2 million (51 per- of a nonemployed parent spent less (all about $2.60 per hour). The care cent) of the 12.1 million preschool- time in self care — 54 percent spent of preschoolers of nonemployed ers living with mothers who had a less than 5 hours in self care per mothers cost more per hour than regular child care arrangement (see week, while only 35 percent of the care of preschoolers of Table 7). On average, $67 per week those of employed parents did so. employed mothers when care was was paid per preschooler. Also, working part time or a nonday in a nursery or preschool or by a Preschoolers of employed mothers shift reduces the amount of time nonrelative in the child’s home.

were more likely to be in a paid child children spent unsupervised each care arrangement than those with a Overall, preschoolers with arrange- week, presumably because parents nonemployed mother (57 percent ments were most likely to be cared arrange their work schedule to coin- compared with 32 percent), and on for by their grandparent, an cide with the majority of time their average were in more costly arrange- arrangement that is most likely to child is at school.

ments ($70 per week and $50 per be unpaid, and when paid, grandFAMILY EXPENDITURES week, respectively). The average parents received the lowest price

ON CHILD CARE FOR ALL price per hour, however, was higher per hour compared with other

CHILDREN UNDER for preschoolers of nonemployed arrangement types. This suggests

15 YEARS OLD mothers than those of employed that when available, parents rely on

mothers ($3.34 and $2.22, respec- grandparents presumably because

Weekly Child Care Expenditures tively), indicating that the cost of they are a low cost option, are

e is greater per hour if fewer trustworthy, and are family. While Child care costs represent an impor- child car

grandparents were the least expen- tant component of family income, hours in care are required.

sive arrangement for preschoolers especially for low income families. Relatively few grandparents were of employed mothers, day care cen- This section examines child care paid for caring for their grandchil- ters were the most expensive. costs for different types of arrange- dren of preschool-age (15 percent), ments for preschool and grade- and when paid, they received on Children 5 to 14 years old school-age children and then exam- average $40 per week. Other rela- ines overall family expenditures for Grade-school-age children were less tives were more likely to receive a child care costs by selected socio- likely to be in a paid arrangement payment for child care services economic characteristics, as well as than preschoolers (40 percent com- (28 percent) than grandparents, and their percentage of monthly family pared with 51 percent), and when they also received a higher payment income. Finally, new data on the they were, the average cost per per hour ($2.49 per hour compared percentage of families receiving week was lower but the price per with $1.50 per hour, respectively). help to pay for child care is ana- hour was higher. 

lyzed. The Spring 1997 data were In contrast, nonrelatives are by far Similar to the situation of collected during the period April – more likely than relatives to be paid preschoolers, a higher percentage July referencing payments made in for child care. For example, 

14 U.S. Census Bureau
of grade-school-age children of activities where parents of both relatives, with the price per hour

employed mothers were in a paid groups of children were as likely to paid for enrichment activities

arrangement than those of nonem- pay (both about 65 percent). Use being much higher than that paid

ployed mothers. This is true for of enrichment activities as a form for grandparents ($4.54 per hour

most arrangement types, with the of child care was more costly than compared with $2.40 per hour).

exception being enrichment care by grandparents and other Interestingly, the price per hour

U.S. Census Bureau 15

Table 7.

Child Care Expenditures for Children Living With Their Mother and in a Regular Child

Care Arrangement: Spring 1997

(Numbers in thousands. Costs in dollars and cents)

Weekly child care expenditures

All

children

Relative Organized care

facility Other nonrelative

GrandparentOther

relative

Day care

center

Nursery/

preschool

Nonrelative in

child’s

home

Family

day care

Other

nonrelative1

Enrichment

activities2

CHILDREN UNDER 5 YEARS . . . 12,100 4,008 1,772 2,222 1,100 823 1,399 1,219 (X)

Making payments ............... 6,169 582 502 1,913 875 572 1,277 898 (X)

Average cost per week3 ....... 67.40 40.44 45.29 83.28 51.88 53.99 67.70 51.26 (X)

(standard error)............. (1.26) (2.39) (2.84) (2.67) (2.73) (4.29) (2.12) (2.54) (X)

Average cost per hour3 ........ 2.37 1.50 2.49 3.52 3.23 3.29 2.62 2.27 (X)

(standard error)............. (0.08) (0.08) (0.33) (0.22) (0.17) (0.22) (0.12) (0.14) (X)

Mother Employed .............. 9,443 2,996 1,205 1,907 708 561 1,313 992 (X)

Making payments ............... 5,332 536 443 1,717 573 428 1,227 774 (X)

Average cost per week3 ....... 70.13 40.30 49.18 86.44 56.19 56.95 68.62 51.38 (X)

(standard error)............. (1.36) (2.51) (3.07) (2.88) (3.31) (5.12) (2.19) (2.43) (X)

Average cost per hour3 ........ 2.22 1.42 2.61 3.51 2.63 2.64 2.56 2.03 (X)

(standard error)............. (0.08) (0.07) (0.38) (0.25) (0.13) (0.22) (0.12) (0.12) (X)

Mother Not Employed .......... 2,657 1,012 567 315 392 262 87 227 (X)

Making payments ............... 838 46 58 196 301 144 50 123 (X)

Average cost per week3 ....... 49.99 (B) (B) 55.63 43.70 45.17 (B) (B) (X)

(standard error)............. (3.24) (B) (B) (5.57) (4.73) (7.70) (B) (B) (X)

Average cost per hour3 ........ 3.34 (B) (B) 3.65 4.38 5.22 (B) (B) (X)

(standard error)............. (0.18) (B) (B) (0.34) (0.40) (0.47) (B) (B) (X)

CHILDREN 5 TO 14 YEARS..... 20,842 5,590 2,594 1,819 471 1,346 1,000 1,759 6581

Making payments ............... 8,232 534 492 1,610 357 709 907 870 4270

Average cost per week3 ....... 40.77 32.28 31.47 53.95 46.33 45.80 48.76 35.95 22.56

(standard error)............. (1.00) (2.10) (3.34) (2.02) (3.64) (3.96) (3.41) (2.61) (1.05)

Average cost per hour3 ........ 3.13 2.40 3.62 4.07 2.90 3.68 4.35 3.95 4.54

(standard error)............. (0.19) (0.25) (0.43) (0.44) (0.20) (0.26) (0.53) (0.71) (0.41)

Mother Employed .............. 17,058 4,528 1,866 1,688 307 1,069 938 1,515 4884

Making payments ............... 7,019 486 455 1,527 225 614 858 793 3187

Average cost per week3 ....... 42.03 33.68 32.34 54.44 48.13 50.89 42.83 34.42 23.98

(standard error)............. (1.01) (2.24) (3.56) (2.07) (3.97) (4.48) (1.89) (2.09) (1.23)

Average cost per hour3 ........ 2.82 2.46 3.60 3.69 2.28 3.80 4.21 4.09 4.52

(standard error)............. (0.10) (0.27) (0.44) (0.23) (0.17) (0.30) (0.56) (0.78) (0.31)

Mother Not Employed .......... 3,785 1,063 727 131 163 277 62 244 1697

Making payments ............... 1,213 48 36 83 132 96 49 76 1082

Average cost per week3 ....... 33.47 (B) (B) (B) (B) (B) (B) (B) 18.37

(standard error)............. (3.36) (B) (B) (B) (B) (B) (B) (B) (1.98)

Average cost per hour3 ........ 4.95 (B) (B) (B) (B) (B) (B) (B) 4.58

(standard error)............. (1.17) (B) (B) (B) (B) (B) (B) (B) (1.34)

B Base less than 200,000 is too small to show derived statistic. X Category not asked for children under 6 years old.

1

Includes care in the provider’s home.

2

This category consists of organized sports, lessons (such as music, art, dance, language, and computer), clubs, and before- or after-school programs

located either at school or other places. These questions were asked in reference to children 6 to 14 years old. 3

Average expenditures in dollars and cents per week among people making child care payments.

Note: Only includes children with a regular child care arrangement. Expenditure questions were not asked for care by the mother, father, or siblings.

Standard errors are in parentheses. Numbers of arrangements may exceed numbers of children because of multiple arrangements.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1996 Panel Wave 4.
paid to grandparents was higher

when they cared for grade-schoolage children than when they cared

for preschoolers, suggesting that

parents negotiate a set amount to

pay the grandparent rather than a

price based on the number of

hours in grandparent care. Among

those in grandparent care, grandparents cared for preschoolers for

more hours per week than they

cared for grade-school-age children

(an average of 21 hours and 15

hours per week, respectively).18

Variations in amount paid exist by

the type of enrichment activity.

Figure 4 shows that parents paid

the most per week for their gradeschool-age child to participate in

before- or after-school programs

($31 per week) and the least for

clubs ($8 per week). However,

when considering the cost per hour,

lessons emerge as the most costly

($10.68 per hour) and sports, clubs,

and school programs are considerably less. It is possible that lessons

are provided by private individuals

rather than by schools or other nonprofit or volunteer institutions, and

hence, are more costly per hour. 

Family Payments for Child Care

In Spring 1997, there were 32.6 million mothers who lived with at least

one of their children under age 15

(see Table 8). Thirty-three percent

reported they made a cash payment

for child care for at least one of

their children. Those who paid for

child care paid an average of $71

per week. Roughly one-third of all

mothers were not employed, and

they were less likely to make a payment for child care than were

employed mothers (14 percent and

43 percent, respectively).

Nonemployed mothers paid less per

week ($49) than employed mothers

($75) for child care.

16 U.S. Census Bureau

18 Based on tabulations not shown in the

table.

Of the 21.5 million employed moth- mothers with more children pay

ers, 43 percent (9.3 million) report- more for child care per week, but

ed they made a cash payment for not double the amount paid for one

child care for at least one of their child. This may be due to facilities

children. More mothers working full reducing the cost of care for second

time paid for child care (47 percent) or more children, or that families

than mothers who worked part time with two or more children are likely

(36 percent). Mothers with two or to have children of both preschool

three or more children were more and grade-school-age, who have diflikely to make a child care payment ferent child care needs and costs.

than mothers with only one child. However, families with a working

Similar proportions of mothers who mother and the youngest child less

lived in metropolitan areas and non- than 5 years old were more likely to

metropolitan areas made child care pay for child care than those where

payments (approximately 43 percent the youngest child was 5 to 14 years

for both). Poor families were less old (57 percent and 34 percent,

likely to make a child care payment respectively). Among families who

(30 percent) than nonpoor families paid for child care, those where the

(45 percent). youngest child was a preschooler

paid a higher weekly payment and a In Spring 1997, families with an

larger proportion of their income employed mother paid an average of

was spent on child care than in fami- $75 per week for child care.

Mothers working full time paid on lies where the youngest child was of

grade-school-age. average $19 per week more for child

care than did mothers working part Although the likelihood of paying

time. On average, mothers with one for child care does not differ by

child paid $61 per week while those metropolitan/nonmetropolitan resiwith two or more children paid dence, the amount paid does. On

around $86 per week. Clearly,

Figure 4.

Average Amount Paid for Enrichment Activities 

as a Child Care Arrangement for Children 

6 to 14 Years: Spring 1997

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 

1996 Panel Wave 4.

Cost per week Cost per hour

Sports

Lessons 

Clubs

$30.38 School programs

$3.90

$7.74

$3.37

$22.10

$10.68

$13.03

$2.88
average, mothers living in metropolitan areas paid $80 per week on

child care, while mothers living in

nonmetropolitan areas paid only

$56 per week. Interestingly, the

percent of income spent on child

care does not vary significantly by

metropolitan residence, thus implying that those living in metropolitan

areas also have a higher income.

Large variations exist in the cost of

child care by income level and

poverty status, with the amount

paid for child care increasing with

income. For example, poor families

in which the mother was employed,

paid an average of $52 per week,

while nonpoor families paid $77 per

week. However, poor families who

paid for child care spent roughly

three times more of their budget

than nonpoor families on child care

(20 percent compared with 7 percent). This large gap in the proportion of income paid for child care

by poverty status has persisted

over the period 1987 to 1997.19

U.S. Census Bureau 17

19 See Smith, Kristin. Who’s Minding the

Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Spring

1995. Current Population Reports, P70-70.

U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, 2000

for a more detailed explanation of this issue.

Receipt of Help to Pay 

for Child Care

New questions regarding whether

the family received any help to pay

for child care were asked on the

SIPP in Spring 1997. The resulting

data provide insight into characteristics of families that are more likely to shoulder all the costs of child

care compared to those who

receive some assistance.

Of the 34.2 million children under

15 years old who were reported to

be in a regular child care arrangement, 1.6 million (5 percent) had

parents who received help paying

for child care from either the

Table 8.

Weekly Child Care Payments by Families With Mothers: Spring 1997

(Numbers in thousands. Excludes families with no report of income in the last 4 months)

Family characteristic

Number of

mothers

Making payments

Weekly child care

payments

(In dollars)

Income spent on child care

per month

Number Percent 1 Average

Standard

error Percent2

Standard

error

Families with mothers and children ...... 32,576 10,812 33.2 71.3 1.3 6.6 0.3

Mother not employed ................ 11,097 1,534 13.8 48.9 3.6 4.6 0.2

Mother employed ...................

Employment Schedule

21,478 9,278 43.2 75.0 1.4 6.9 0.3

Full time3 ...................... 14,764 6,906 46.8 80.0 1.7 7.3 0.3

Part time .......................

Number of Children

6,714 2,372 35.3 60.6 2.4 5.7 0.2

One child ...................... 10,716 4,241 39.6 60.5 1.7 5.7 0.2

Two children.................... 7,731 3,721 48.1 87.8 2.5 7.7 0.3

Three or more children ..........

Age of Youngest Child

3,031 1,315 43.4 85.6 4.4 8.1 0.7

Under 5 years .................. 8,728 4,974 57.0 91.7 2.0 8.9 0.4

5 to 14 years ...................

Type of Residence

12,750 4,304 33.8 55.7 1.9 4.8 0.2

Metropolitan .................... 17,175 7,475 43.5 79.5 1.7 7.0 0.3

Central cities ................. 5,942 2,440 41.1 73.8 2.6 7.5 0.5

Outside central cities .......... 11,233 5,035 44.8 82.3 2.2 6.8 0.4

Nonmetropolitan ................

Monthly Family Income

4,303 1,803 41.9 56.4 2.2 6.3 0.3

Less than $1,500 ............... 3,357 1,062 31.6 51.7 2.7 22.8 7.3

$1,500 to $2,999................ 5,470 2,098 38.4 65.5 2.6 12.6 4.1

$3,000 to $4,499................ 4,893 2,059 42.1 70.0 2.6 8.2 2.6

$4,500 and over ................

Poverty Status

7,758 4,059 52.3 88.6 2.5 5.1 0.2

Below poverty level.............. 2,440 726 29.7 52.1 3.4 20.0 1.7

Above poverty level ............. 19,038 8,552 44.9 77.0 1.5 6.6 0.3

100 to 199 percent of poverty . . 4,899 1,702 34.7 65.4 2.8 14.5 3.2

200 percent and above poverty . 14,139 6,850 48.4 79.9 1.8 6.0 0.3

1

Average expenditures per week among people making child care payments.

2

Percent is a ratio of average monthly child care payments (prorated from weekly averages) to average monthly income.

3

Those who work 35 or more hours per week are considered working full time.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1996 Panel Wave 4.
government, their other parent, from the government to pay for government support for child care

from their parent’s employer, or child care. Receipt of assistance to was related to receipt of Temporary

another source (see Table 9). A help pay for child care is related to Assistance for Needy Families

higher proportion of preschoolers one’s economic status. Preschoolers (TANF), as 15 percent of preschoolreceived help to pay for child care living in poverty were more likely to ers who received TANF also

than did grade-school-age children receive help from the government received help from the government

(7 percent compared with 4 per- to pay for child care (9 percent) to pay for child care. This finding

cent). than those living just above the suggests that families receiving

poverty line (5 percent) and those government help for child care pay- In Spring 1997, 812,000 children living at 200 percent or more of the ments may be better connected into under 15 years old received help poverty line (1 percent). Receipt of networks of assistance or more

18 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 9.

Receipt of Help to Pay for Child Care From Selected Sources for Children Under 15 Years:

Spring 1997

(Numbers in thousands. Limited to children with a regular child care arrangement)

Characteristic

Number of

children

Type of help received to pay for child care

1 From any source From government2 From other parent

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,234 1,626 4.7 812 2.4 533 1.6

Children under 5 years ................

Race and Hispanic Origin

12,419 864 7.0 466 3.8 225 1.8

White .............................. 9,893 616 6.2 280 2.8 172 1.7

Non-Hispanic ..................... 8,339 540 6.5 247 3.0 136 1.6

Black .............................. 1,995 228 11.4 177 8.9 44 2.2

Asian and Pacific Islander............ 417 13 3.2 3 0.8 10 2.4

Hispanic (of any race) ...............

Marital Status

1,652 84 5.1 38 2.3 38 2.3

Married3 ........................... 8,885 346 3.9 144 1.6 113 1.3

Separated, divorced, widowed ........ 1,214 158 13.0 100 8.2 35 2.9

Never married ......................

Poverty Status4

2,320 359 15.5 222 9.6 77 3.3

Less than 100 percent of poverty ..... 2,053 255 12.4 191 9.3 29 1.4

100 to 199 percent of poverty ........ 2,821 245 8.7 147 5.2 66 2.3

200 percent and above poverty .......

Child’s Age

7,357 339 4.6 105 1.4 130 1.8

Less than 1 year .................... 2,106 150 7.1 81 3.9 43 2.1

1 to 2 years ........................ 5,000 349 7.0 191 3.8 104 2.1

3 to 4 years ........................

Employment Status

5,313 365 6.9 194 3.6 78 1.5

Employed .......................... 9,707 677 7.0 330 3.4 204 2.1

Not employed....................... 2,713 187 6.9 137 5.0 21 0.8

In school ......................... 663 104 15.7 81 12.2 15 2.2

Looking for work .................. 363 22 6.1 19 5.1 – –

Out of labor force .................

Receipt of Assistance

1,687 61 3.6 37 2.2 6 0.4

Receipt of TANF5 ................... 918 159 17.3 142 15.4 3 0.3

No receipt of TANF5 ................. 11,501 705 6.1 325 2.8 223 1.9

Receipt of Medicaid ................. 2,492 427 17.1 348 14.0 28 1.1

No receipt of Medicaid ............... 9,928 437 4.4 118 1.2 198 2.0

6 Children 5 to 14 years ................ 21,815 762 3.5 346 1.6 308 1.4

– Represents or rounds to zero.

1

Includes help from the government, the other parent, an employer (88,000), and other sources (219,000).

2

Includes help from a federal, state, or local government agency, or a welfare office.

3

Includes married spouse present and spouse absent.

4

Excludes those with missing income data.

5

TANF stands for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

6

Receipt of help to pay for child care is not broken down by characteristics for children 5 to 14 years old due to small proportions of children in this age

group receiving help to pay for child care.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 1996 Panel Wave 4.
aware of government programs to pay for child care. This reflects

available to low-income families. the high prevalence of poverty

among Black mothers and unmar- Overall, preschoolers of nonem- ried mothers. ployed mothers were as likely to

receive help from any source in Many assume that government supmaking child care payments as port for child care will enable moththose of employed mothers (7 per- ers to secure employment by lowercent for both), but preschoolers of ing the cost of child care and thus

mothers who were in school were removing one of the barriers to

more than twice as likely to receive maintaining a job. Figure 5 shows

assistance (16 percent) as those of that among preschoolers receiving

employed mothers. This suggests government help to pay for child

that poor mothers are using child care, a large proportion were cared

care assistance as they attend for primarily in an organized facility

school and other training which and made no payment for child

may lead to securing a job in the care. While 43 percent of

future. preschoolers who received government help to pay for child care were Black children were more likely than cared for primarily in organized children of other race or ethnic facilities, only 20 percent of those groups to receive government help who do not receive help were in to pay for child care. Likewise, this type of arrangement. Rather, preschoolers of unmarried mothers those who do not receive govern- were more likely than married ment help to pay for child care were mothers to receive government help cared for primarily by relatives. 

Furthermore, those receiving government help to pay for child care

were more likely not to pay for

child care at all (61 percent) than

were those who did not receive

help (49 percent), even though

recipients were more likely to use

more expensive care arrangements,

such as organized child care facilities. Only 11 percent of those who

received government help to pay

for child care paid $50 or more per

week, compared with 32 percent of

those who did not receive help.

Clearly, government support for

child care payments is related to

reduced child care costs.

Another source of help to pay for

child care comes from the child’s

other parent, although this is not

common (2 percent of preschoolers).

Preschoolers of never married mothers were more likely to have some

portion of their child care paid for by

their other parent (3 percent) than

those of married parents (1 percent).

In addition, the child’s other parent

was more likely to help out with child

care costs if the designated parent

was not receiving government assistance such as TANF or Medicaid.

SOURCE OF THE DATA

The estimates in this report come

from the Survey of Income and

Program Participation (SIPP), collected in Spring 1997 by the U.S.

Census Bureau. The data highlighted in this report come primarily

from the child care topical module

in the fourth interview (wave) of the

1996 SIPP panel. The SIPP is a

nationally representative longitudinal survey conducted at 4-month

intervals by the Census Bureau.

Although the main focus of the SIPP

is information on labor force participation, jobs, income, and participation in federal assistance programs,

information on other topics, such as

child care, is also collected in topical modules on a rotating basis.

U.S. Census Bureau 19

Figure 5.

Primary Arrangement Used and Amount Paid per 

Week for Child Care by Receipt of Government Help, 

for Children Under 5 Years: Spring 1997

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 

1996 Panel Wave 4.

Other

nonrelative

Organized

facility

Relative

Parent

No payment

$50 or 

more

$1 to $49

Percent distribution of 

primary arrangement

Percent distribution of 

amount paid per week

Received Not received Received Not received

20 18

43

20

28

44

10 17

11

32

28

19

61

49
ACCURACY OF THE affects different variables in the sur- CONTACTS

ESTIMATES vey is not precisely known. Child care issues— Moreover, biases may also be pres- Statistics from sample surveys are Kristin Smith ent when people who are missed in subject to sampling and nonsam- 301-763-2416 the survey differ from those inter- pling error. All comparisons present- ksmith@census.gov viewed in ways other than the cate- ed in this report have taken sam- gories used in weighting (age, race, Statistical Information Staff pling error into account and meet sex, and Hispanic origin). All of 301-457-2422 the U.S. Census Bureau’s standards these considerations affect compar- pop@census.gov for statistical significance. isons across different surveys or Nonsampling errors in surveys may data sources. be attributed to a variety of sources,

such as how the survey was For further information on statistical USER COMMENTS

designed, how respondents interpret standards and the computation and The Census Bureau welcomes the questions, how able and willing use of standard errors, contact Earl comments and advice of users of respondents are to provide correct Letourneau, Demographic Statistical its data and reports. If you have answers, and how accurately Methods Division, at 301-457-4228 any suggestions or comments, answers are coded and classified. or on the Internet at please write to: The Census Bureau employs quality Earl.J.Letourneau@census.gov.

control procedures throughout the Chief, Population Division

production process — including the MORE INFORMATION U.S. Census Bureau

overall design of surveys, testing the Washington, DC 20233 The report is available on the Internet wording of questions, review of the (www.census.gov); search for chil- or send an e-mail inquiry to: work of interviewers and coders, dren’s data by clicking on the pop@census.gov and statistical review of reports. “Subjects A-Z” button and selecting

The SIPP employs ratio estimation, “child care data” under “C.” A SUGGESTED CITATION

whereby sample estimates are detailed table package presenting Smith, Kristin. Who’s Minding the adjusted to independent estimates more in-depth child care information Kids? Child Care Arrangements: of the national population by age, for both preschool- and grade-school- Spring 1997. Current Population sex, race, and Hispanic origin. This age children is also on the Internet, Reports, P70-86. U.S. Census weighting partially corrects for bias as well as more information on child Bureau, Washington, DC, 2002. due to undercoverage, but how it care. Future child care reports will

focus on fathers as care providers.

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