Child Care Choices, Family Income and Mother's Employment: What Can We Learn from the 2004 SIPP Panel?

Daniel Perez-Lopez, U.S. Census Bureau
Lynda L. Laughlin, U.S. Census Bureau
John Hisnanick, U.S. Census Bureau

Over the last twenty-five years, the number of women employed full-time outside the home increased more than two-fold as has the use of non-parental child care, with approximately eight out of ten employed mothers with children under the age of six depending on some type of childcare arrangement. The demand for quality care arrangements for preschoolers is a major concern for employed parents, as the supply of care is limited. We investigate child care choices by looking at the individual and joint impact that family income and mother’s labor force participation contribute to explaining observed child care choice. Preliminary analysis suggests that childcare choice is largely influenced by household income, hours worked by mother, and parental education levels.