With data from the Survey of Income Program Participation, a three-equation, reduced-form econometric model is used to generate estimates revealing that the cost of market child care decreases the labor force participation of married women. High wages increase likelihood of working and use of paid child care. (SK)

A study conducted a questionnaire survey of 70 refugee women in Illinois and 2 service provider focus groups to assess the effects of welfare changes on refugee women and to identify barriers to workforce participation. Survey findings were that refugee women in the workforce are concentrated in low-wage jobs and do not earn enough income to move…

Examination of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth found that a woman's wages relate positively to early return to work after childbirth; higher family income delays return; income did not affect child care choice; greater child care tax credits increased early return; and tax credits did not affect child care choice, but predicted…

This study examines the status of former welfare recipients in the District of Columbia (DC), highlighting families who left Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in the last quarter of 1997 and of 1998. Researchers used data from the DC Department of Human Services and interviews with people who left in 1998. Between 1997-99, DC's cash…

This fact sheet is provided by the 4-C Worker Outreach Project in an effort to increase awareness of day care working conditions in Dane County, Wisconsin. Areas covered in the fact sheet are (1) staff wages and benefits; (2) educational background of day care staff; and (3) staff retention and turnover. Data were obtained from 58 full-day and 37…

Analysis of data from a national sample of over 4,000 child care workers indicates that (1) their wages are unaffected by government subsidies and regulations; and (2) wages have remained constant relative to other workers' wages despite substantial increases in child care subsidies. (SK)

Quality child care is related to the number of adequately prepared practitioners. Unfortunately, workers subsidize the cost of quality by working for substandard wages, few benefits, and little recognition. The need for adequate compensation is the most critical issue facing the profession, and the cost should be shared by all members of society.…

In 1994, the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) in Washington state subsidized child care for about 35,000 children each month, with financial support provided in part by federal funds. The primary objective of this survey, the fourth in a series, was to set local maximum rates for subsidy programs based on the private-paying child…

Seven day care centers in the Denver-Boulder (Colorado) metropolitan an effort to identify the kinds of subsidies they received and to estimate the importance of these subsidies for the cost of services. The sites included a Head Start program, three nonprofit centers, two family day care providers, and an infant care center. Labor accounted for a…

This report studied the employment and child care arrangements of 100 women who worked at a municipal hospital in Manhattan. Eighty-three women in the study were minorities, one-half were single mothers and three-quarters had low paying entry level jobs. Most of the mothers worked full-time, full-year, and during regular daytime hours. The study…

Data from 971 mothers suggested that (1) price is critical in child care choice; (2) parents do not consistently select high quality care; and (3) mothers with higher wages and families with higher incomes prefer center care. Vouchers, reduced fees, or tax credits consistently increase use of day care centers. (SK)

In 1988, the National Child Care Staffing Study first gathered information on staffing and quality from a sample of child care centers in five metropolitan areas--Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Phoenix, and Seattle--and returned for updated information in 1992. In 1997, directors of the original sample of centers still in operation were contacted again…

The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) subsidizes child care for about 30,000 children each month. In 1992, telephone interviews were conducted with 1,179 child care centers and 1,277 licensed family child care homes throughout the state. An estimated 140,000 children were in licensed care at that time. Three major…

The five research studies in this volume focus on the financing of child care, and constitute part of a detailed analysis of issues relevant to child care and parental leave policies and the effects of such issues on the Canadian family. Paper 1 describes how child care is funded through the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP); points out the problems…

Analyzes policy implications of compensation and working conditions of teachers in three publicly funded early childhood systems: public school prekindergarten and kindergarten, publicly funded child care, and Head Start. Unacceptable levels of teacher turnover and vacancy in nonpublic school programs resulted from differences in compensation and…