View Research by Author - Sandra L. Hofferth

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While government regulations are designed to safeguard the health and well-being of children, they may also alter the cost and availability of child care, thus affecting parental use of such services. This paper investigates the total effects of regulation on parental choice of child care and the indirect effects of regulation through the price, quality, and availability of care. In our analysis of data from the National Child Care Survey 1990, we find strong evidence that state regulations requiring center-based providers to be trained are associated with a lower probability that parents choose a center, while state inspections are associated with more parental choice of center and home care. We end by discussing the policy implications of our findings. (Population: Research and Policy Review 17: 111-40, April 1998.)

Choice models are a key tool of empirically oriented rational choice researchers. However, most researchers do not have the information they need to adequately test their hypotheses and rely solely on individual characteristics of the choosers. The lack of information on the options and constraints parents face may lead researchers to conclude that choices are not rational, rather than to question whether they have the appropriate data. This issue is particularly important for researchers interested in modeling child care choice, since the characteristics of care are more amenable to policy intervention than the characteristics of persons. This paper estimates models of choice of child care arrangement that include measures of price, quality, and availability obtained directly from parents in the National Child Care Survey of 1990. This paper compares alternative estimates of the assoications of these characteristics with mode choice. Adding care characteristics to models with individual characteristics improves the explanation of parental child care choices. Using parent reports of the characteristics of arrangements they used and of those they did not use produces results more consistent with expectations than estimates based on predicted values. The results also suggest that having parent reports on the characteristics of alternatives not used improves the precision of estimates of the associations between prices and child care mode-choices. Correcting for selectivity does not appear to be a reasonable subsititute when such information is lacking. (Rationality and Society 8: 453-95, November 1996.)

In Hofferth and Wissoker (1992) we estimated the effects of price and quality on mode of child care chosen. We found large negative effects of price and quality on choice. This paper presents a revised version of our original model. The new results suggest negative price effects that are smaller than those in the original paper. The estimated effects of child/staff ratios also become less negative, and one becomes positive. (Journal of Human Resources 31(3), June 1996.)

This paper investigates the total effects of regulations and inspections on parental choice of child care arrangements and the indirect effects on choices caused by regulation that influences the cost, quality, and availability of these arrangements. Data used are from the 1990 National Child Care Survey. A review of the literature on this topic is included, along with selection criteria and statistical methods used.

This report addresses the issue of providing high-quality child care with limited funds at a time when more low-income children may need this care as a result of welfare reforms that encourage mothers of children under three to work. In an attempt to help policymakers resolve the dilemma concerning quality versus availability of child care, the study examines the often differing perspectives of professionals and parents on what constitutes "quality," how parents make their child care decisions, the effects of low-quality care on children, and the effect of government regulation on child care facilities.

This paper addresses three central questions: (1) How do public and private policies affect the decisions of mothers to return to the labor force after childbirth? (2) What types of strategies do families with very young children use to manage work and family life? (3) How do public policies affect the choices parents make to care for their young children when the mother is employed, in school, or in training? The paper also addresses what public and private strategies can do to help families manage the care of young children.

Using data from the National Child Care Survey, 1990 and its low-income supplement, this report examines the care arrangements of 12 million children under age 13 in 6 million families with annual incomes below $15,000. Three fundamental issues are explored: (1) how low-income children are regularly cared for; (2) how much low-income families spend on child care; and (3) the preferences of low-income parents in caring for their children.

Using data from the National Child Care Survey, 1990 and its low-income supplement, this report examines the care arrangements of 12 million children under age 13 in 6 million families with annual incomes below $15,000. Three fundamental issues are explored: (1) how low-income children are regularly cared for; (2) how much low-income families spend on child care; and (3) the preferences of low-income parents in caring for their children.

This report addresses the large gap in our understanding of the employment patterns of mothers and the care of their children while they work. It presents new data on forms of care used for infants, toddlers, and school-age children, as well as previously unknown national data on how parents find programs, what alternatives are available, what child care arrangements cost, and how parents juggle employment and the care of their children.

The study was sponsored jointly by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Head Start Bureau of the Administration for Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Office of Human Development Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

This report addresses the large gap in our understanding of the employment patterns of mothers and the care of their children while they work. It presents new data on forms of care used for infants, toddlers, and school-age children, as well as previously unknown national data on how parents find programs, what alternatives are available, what child care arrangements cost, and how parents juggle employment and the care of their children.

The study was sponsored jointly by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Head Start Bureau of the Administration for Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Office of Human Development Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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