Child Care and Employment on Low-Income Families

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this project is to examine the relationships among maternal employment, child care, parenting practices of behavior, and economic factors in families with children born in 1999 to 2000, in the wake of welfare reform and state requirements for low-income mothers of young children to enter the work force. We are interested in the linkages between timing, intensity, and stability of maternal employment in the first three years of life; the type, intensity, quality and stability of child care arrangements used by the family; the psychological climate of the family (including mental health of parents, relationship between the mother and father, conflict in the household, and stability of household members); and the parenting behavior of the mothers (discipline practices). We also will examine how maternal employment and child care in low-income households are associated with child cognitive, social, and emotional well being. This project would add a child care module to an ongoing panel study, the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being study. Using a sample of 1,700 children from 8 cities across the country, we would include child care observations and interviews with providers and parents when the children are 15- and 33-months of age. We would also assess child cognitive, social and emotional development, as well as parental practices and behaviors during home visits at 30- and 48-months. Our specific aims are to: (1) describe parental employment and child care patterns in a diverse sample of low-income families; (2) assess the relative influences of employment, child care, and family context on child well-being; (3) augment these models by examining possible moderating child and family factors; and (4) see whether changes in employment, child care, and family context predict changes in children's cognitive, social, and emotional well-being.