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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 131.932 PS 008 951 AUTHOR Rodes, Thomas W. TITLE National Childcare donsumer S udy:- 1975. Volupe II: Current Patterns of Childcare Use in theUnited States. INSTITUTION Uncle, Inc., Washington, D.C. SPONS AGENCY Office of Child Development (WIEN ) ,Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 75 CONTRACT HEW-105-74-1107 NOTE 299p.; For other volumes or this s u_y, see 950-953; Some tables may reproduce poorly EDRS PRICE ME-$0.83 HC-$15.39 Pins Postage. DESCRIPTORS Age Differences; Certification;*Child Care; Chi d Care Centers; Costs; Cultural Factors; *Day Care services; Economic Disadvantagement; Elementary School Students; Family Day Care; FamilyEnvironme_ Family Structure; Infants; Junior High School Students; Mothers; *National Demography;*National Surveysl Nursery SchooL71; Nutrition; Paent Attitudes; Preschool Children; *Questionnaires;Race; Research Design; Research Methodology;Socioeconomic Background; *Statistical Data; Transportation Working Parents IDENTIFIERS Project Head Start ABSTRACT the ' This is the second of three study reports on national4incidence of child care usage as well as consumerneeds, preferences, attitudes and opinions onchild care, based on 4609 personal interviews conducted in 1975from a national probability sample of households with children ander 14 yearsof age. The study yas sponsored by theOffice of Child Development of the U.S. Department of Health, Education andWelfare. _This volume reports the prevalence of use among various types ofchild care, describes the population subgroups who use care, andprovides an analysis of the patterns and trends of usage. Data areorqanized under the following headings: CO Sampling Methodology andDesign, (2) .Analytic Framework, CO Simple Incidence of Usage,(4) Hours Used-Per Capita: A Summary Usage index,(5) Characteristics of Substantial Users, (6) Payment Mode 4nd Formality of Care,(7) Costs- of Child Care, (8) Transportation Arrangement ,and (9) Summary Discussion and . Conclusions. (MS) Documents acquired by ERIC include manyinformal unpublished * materials not available fromother sources. ERIC makes every effort * * to obtain the best copy available.Nevertheless, items of marginal * * reproducibility are oftenencountered and this affects the quality * * of the microfiche and hardcopyreproductions ERIC makes'available * * via the ERIC DocumentReproduction Service (BURS). EDRS is not * responsible for the quality ofthe original document. Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the 'bestthat can be made from the original. ********************************************************************** U DEPARTMENT OF HEALY EOUEATION & WELFARE NATIONAL .NSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT OAS!TEENNI-PlOT DUCED eXACTLy AS PFCFIVED I POM TIlE PEPSON OP aNGANIZAT iON OPICTIN. r-7-1 A TING IT POINTS OF VIEW OH OPINIONS S TA TE1) Of) NOT NECE VIM-Of Y TIEPITI- - Ca SENT WI ICIAL NATIONAI LLI EDUCATION POSI T ION Of/ POLICY NATIONL CHILDCRE CONSUMER STUDY: VOLUME- II URREEIT PATTERNS CHILDCARE USE IN THEUNITED STATES prepared pnder contract#105-74-1107for: Office of Child Development 13-1 U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfa e N-N .NATIONAL CHILDCARE CONSU ER STUD11:1975 VOLUME II Current Patterns Of Childcare Use In the United States Thomatl W. Rodes Principal Author and Analyst John C. Moore Project Manager Prepared under Contract # HEW-105-74-1 07 for Office of Child Development Department of Health, Education, and Welfare jpinions eNpressed herein are those of Unco, Inc., and should not be construed o represent the opinion§ or policies ot any agency, , department, or otherirstru- nent of any federal, state, or local government. This is the second of three study reports based on 'data gathered from a national probability sample of house- holds in the late spring and early summer of 1975 as part of a contract sponsored by tbe Offiee.of Child Development (OCD) of the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare.. In all, 4,609 personal intervieWs were conducted to determine the national irrcidence of child care usage as well as consumer needs, preferences, attitudes and opinions on child care. The objectives of this volume are, to report the prevalence of use among various types of child care, to describe the population subgroups who use care and, finally, to provide an analysis of the patterns and trends of usage. Because th anticipated readership of this publication is very broad, we have.- ,attempted to assemble a core of useful data while, at the same. time, to keep the analysis simple and understandable, avoiding the-overly technical or scientific perspectiVe wherever possible. 'About two, thirds of the data collected by the full survey fall into the domain of consumer preferences, attitudes and opinions and are reported and analyzed in Volume III. .Volume I is comprised of basic tabulations including a full accounting of all the variables and items, inolUding a specimen questionnaire, sample dispositions and marginal,distributions. The serious .reader may find this,companion report to be an aid in interpreting the data herein, although .we have designed to each of the volumes to stand alone. ill 4 ACKNO LEDGMENTS The National Child Care Consumer Study is the, work of many persons both within and outside of Uneo, Inc. The instrinnent was developed with the assistance of Victoria Squicr and Ehzabeth Diffendal of the Unco still,Nrith the aypert consultation of David 01-r and the thoughtful help and direction of Patricia Hawkins and William Diepenbrock of the Department of Health, EduenLion and Welfare. We are also indebted to the p v revirwors in the government and in academia who contributed suggestions and comments dur- study design phase. The data were coliected by Chilton Research Services under the direction of William Oldach., Fred Soulas, Carmelo Linsalata, Ruth Finkle, and Dale Kulp of the Chilton staff also played important roles in the field work. Elizabeth Diffendal, Axmheres o-.Lency and Susan Jonils of the Unc- staff made vital contributions to thc analysis.S:ini Grtwato and Louis Bates if the Offie e of Child Developnleiri L vc ry helpful in providhig agency input to the analysis. Finally, We arc grateful tt Betty Heydon for excellent typing and pro- duction assistance, sometimes runnthg well into the early niornthg hours, and to William Darnell, President of tinco, for his technical support and manage- ment assistance throughout the study. TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD iii ACIsZaDWLEDGEMENTS SECTION I:INTRODUCTION 1-1 SECTION SAMPLING METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN 9-1 Summary 2-1 Discussion on the Sample Des. grn 2-4 Derivation of the Weighting 9_6 Estimations,of Sampling Error 2-13 Biases 2-18 Missing Data 2-19 SECTION III: ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK 3-1 Characteristics or the Respondents- 3-2 Race and Ethnicity 3-5 Household Si'!.(1 and Structure 3-7 Ecunomie and Employment CharactisticS -3-12 of Child Care Usage 3-19 SECTION IV: SIMPLE'INCIDENCE OF USAGE 4-1 Overview 4-1 Child Care and Mother's hinployment Status 4-4 Child.Care by Race and Ethnicity 4-7 Child Care by Household Poverty Level 4-7 Usage,Sehedules 4-11 Usage by Age of child 4-18 Supplemental Data 4-23 SECTION V: HOURS USED PER CAPITA; A SUMMARY USAGE INDEX 5-1 Overview 5-1 A National Estimate of Total Care Hours- 5-2 Levels of Usage by Age of Child_ 5-4 Levels of Usage by Race 5-10 Income Status as a Determinant of Usage 5-10 Employment of the Respondent 5-13 vii T A 13L E Ol rT E. NT S (Con inue{1) SECTION VI: C1tA1ACTERISTICSOF S1JBSTANTIALT USERS 6-1 Discussion 0-1 Profile 0 Users 6-3 Usage Schedu1e:3 of "Substantial!'UserS 6-6 SECTION VII: PAYMENT MODEAND FORMALI1Y OF CARE 7-1 Discussion 7-1 Care by Relatives '1-7 Cre in Non-Relatives 7-12. Nursery Schools, Day Core :ent- 7-15 Other Forms of care 7-18 SECTION VIII: COSTS Oy CHILDCARE 8-1 .Discussio 8-1 Poycyty Status rnc1 Costs 8-9 Respondent Statuand Employment Stus 8-13 9-1 SECTION EK: TRANSPORTATIONARRANGEMENTS Distance From Home 9-1 Methods of,7ransportation 9-3 10-1 SECT ON X: SUMMARY DISCUSSIONAND CONCLUSIO: Who Uses Child Care? 10-1 What Socioeconomic Differences Are EviclentAmong Child Care Users? 10-8' How Much Does Child Care Cost? 10-11 Two Year Olds: A SpecialCase 10-11 Soction 1NTRODUCTION There are approximately 25 millionhouseholds in the 48 conterminous Uilited States with at least one child under14 yea's of age. Nearly9070'of if only occasionally, when -thaehouseholds use some type of care arrangement, avail theother or other adult who has primaryresponsibility for care is not able. About 16 million engage a babysitteri nurserysChool, family home proprietor, day care center or otherexternal arrangement, 'while siXmillion rely exclusively on residentmembers of the immediate household.:By far the highest incidence of usage can be attributedto what mo t of us wouldcall baby- sittnig. There is nothing particularly startlingin the "bo om-line statisti of from this survey.Indeed, the broad picture portrayedis the very character the study, for we are concerned not justwith low-income households,with working mothers, with exceptionalchildren, with day care centers norwith an other single target group'or method of care.Rather, the study was designedto find out, from a national viewpoint, who useschild care, how child'ren,are cared or when care is used,how often chi.ld care services arepurchased and at what cost. The essential perspective is that of allhouseholds in the:United States with interviews) avail--. children under 14.Consequently, the sample space (number., of .. alite .for analyzing such groups as day care