This study compared the job satisfaction, professional commitment, and perceived level of support from peers of family day care providers who were in networking groups or who worked in isolation. Subjects were providers in suburban Chicago, 30 of whom were associated with a network and 30 of whom were independent providers. Subjects were surveyed by telephone. Results did not support the hypothesis that providers who worked in networks would exhibit higher job satisfaction than those who did not. The data did support the hypothesis that providers who worked in networks would have more training and higher commitment to professionalism than those who did not. Support for this hypothesis was shown by the professional and businesslike attitude exhibited by the providers working in networks, which was in contrast to the family-oriented attitude of the independent providers, and by the low number of independent providers who reported having more than one year of experience. A copy of the survey, tables of data, and a list of 41 references are provided. (HTH)