Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Employed mothers' satisfaction with child care choices : perceptions of accessibility, affordability, quality, and workplace flexibility

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/1v53k1501

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  • Interest in child care has grown dramatically, yet little is known about how families manage to ensure appropriate child care. In a secondary analysis of data from 642 employed mothers representing a wide range of income levels, this research identified the factors contributing most to mothers' satisfaction with child care arrangements. The study used an ecological model with accessibility, affordability, quality, and workplace flexibility as characteristics of the exosystem, and household income, presence of a spouse or partner, and age of the youngest child as characteristics of the microsystem. The research explored how individual family characteristics combine with environmental characteristics to impact parental satisfaction. Three questions guided the study: (a) How do accessibility, affordability, quality of child care arrangements, and workplace flexibility affect parental satisfaction with child care arrangements? (b) How do income, household structure, and child's age affect parental satisfaction with child care arrangements? (c) How do these characteristics combine to affect parental satisfaction with child care arrangements? As proposed, the study found that for most mothers in the study, accessibility and quality combine with income and household structure to impact satisfaction with child care arrangements. Poorer women who pay a greater percentage of household income had more concerns about quality and were more dissatisfied with their child care arrangement than women paying a lower percentage of income for care. Despite concerns about quality for mothers paying a greater percentage of income for care, affordability contributed more than quality to satisfaction with child care. The data provided evidence of a different trade-off for lower income families. The results of this study have relevance for policies which address the needs of families at all income levels. The policy principles based on the results of the study include: 1. Basic health and safety regulations are important to quality and stability of care for all parents. 2. Financial assistance with the cost of child care is important, especially for those working families just above the poverty level. 3. Public support of services to improve child care is important to addressing the needs of all employed mothers, regardless of income status.
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