Child Care Use in Minnesota: Report of the 2009 Statewide Household Child Care Survey
Author: Chase, Richard
Date: 2010-11-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Caregivers,Telephone Surveys,Sampling,State Surveys,Child Care,Low Income,Interviews,Children,Family Characteristics,Family Income,Family Needs,Public Policy,Costs,Federal Programs,State Programs,Barriers,Employed Parents,Selection

This report on a statewide telephone survey describes child care use in Minnesota among households with children 12 and younger. Minnesota has an estimated 908,000 children ages 12 and younger; 24 percent are ages 0 to 2, 24 percent ages 3 to 5, 30 percent ages 6 to 9 and 23 percent ages 10 to 12. Of the nearly 500,000 households with one or more of these children, 28 percent have annual incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The survey was conducted for the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), through its Community Partnerships Division, to inform, develop and assess Minnesota's child care policies and programs, with particular attention to child care use among households with low incomes. It was conducted from April 2009 through March 2010 with a statistically valid random sample of Minnesota families to reflect child care use during the summer and the school year. Interviewers spoke with one adult in each household who was most knowledgeable about child care arrangements. The survey collected information about all the types of child care used at least once in each of the prior two weeks for one randomly-selected child per household. The study also includes information on reasons for choosing various arrangements, costs of child care, work-related issues and parent satisfaction with current child care arrangements. The results provide an accurate overview of child care choices, availability, quality and affordability for all families in Minnesota. Similar surveys were completed in 1999 and 2004. In this study, child care refers to all arrangements other than parents and the regular school time (K-12). It includes informal home-based care by family, friends and neighbors; licensed home-based care; center-based care (including preschool, nursery school and school-age care programs before and after the school day); organized activities such as clubs or sports, and self care by the child. The study included 1,209 randomly-selected households (308 surveyed in the summer and 901 during the school year). The sample was stratified by region (in Greater Minnesota) and by county (in the Twin Cities metropolitan area). The survey has an acceptable response rate of 32.5 percent and an overall sampling error of about plus or minus 2.8 percent. The results of this statewide survey of randomly-selected households that use child care for children ages 12 and younger provide an accurate overview of child care use, choices and affordability for all families in Minnesota. Based on the results of this study and discussion with the study advisory committee, the researchers recommend the following to ensure that high quality and affordable child care is available for all Minnesota families who need it: (1) Continue public and private efforts to empower parents to make informed child care choices; (2) Develop the supply of high-quality child care options; (3) Increase public and private ways to help families, especially those with low-incomes, access high-quality child care; (4) Continue to support and expand ways to improve the quality of family, friend and neighbor caregivers and connect them to appropriate resources; and (5) Support programs throughout Minnesota that provide supervised, developmentally appropriate activities for pre-teens. (Contains 50 figures and 20 footnotes.) [For &quot;Child Care Use in Minnesota: 2009 Statewide Survey Summary,&quot; see ED518423.]