Determinants of Multiple Child Care Arrangements: Examining Differences By Type and Timing of Arrangements

Purpose. Research suggests that low-income parents often rely on multiple, concurrent arrangements due to working nonstandard schedules and lack of affordable alternatives.  Conversely, parents may also purposefully choose multiple arrangements to expose their child to particular type(s) and amounts of preferred care, such as combining home- and center-based arrangements.  Moreover, as parents’ preferences change as children get older, their reasons for using a particular number and type(s) of arrangements may also change.  Yet, little is known about the factors that predict multiple arrangements or whether these factors vary by child’s age. This study aims to address this knowledge gap by examining factors associated with using different types of multiple arrangements at different ages.

Methods.Using nationally-representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort, I use multinomial logistic regression to predict multiple arrangements at each of three study waves when children are 9 months, 2 years, and 4 years in age from child, family, maternal employment characteristics, and child care preferences (N=8200).  Multiple arrangements are defined as: (1) multiple home-based (relative or non-relative); (2) multiple home- and center-based; (3) multiple center-based arrangements.  These are compared to using single home-based arrangements, single center-based, and parent care only.  Child characteristics include: age, gender, health status, and having a special need/disability. Family characteristics include: mother’s age, race/ethnicity, education; income; family composition. Maternal employment characteristics include: weekly work hours, working multiple jobs, and non-standard schedule.  Preferences were measured with items that assessed the importance mothers placed on various aspects of care when choosing an arrangement: practical priorities (e.g., close to home), cultural priorities (e.g., caregiver with same race/ethnicity), and quality features (e.g., caregiver with special training).

Results. Descriptive analyses show that multiple arrangements differ by child age.  At 9 months, 8% of children were in multiple home-based, 2% were in multiple home- and center-based, and 0% were in multiple center-based arrangements.  By age 4, only 2% were in multiple home-based, 19% were in multiple home- and center-based, and 3% were in multiple center-based.  In multivariate analyses, employment characteristics, care preferences, and family composition were consistently associated with using multiple versus single arrangements across the study waves.  Working non-standard schedules and multiple jobs predicted a greater likelihood of using each of the three types of multiple arrangements versus single arrangements.  Practical and cultural priorities for care predicted a greater likelihood of using multiple home-based or multiple home- and center-based versus single center-based arrangements.  Conversely, prioritizing quality features predicted a lower likelihood of using multiple home-based versus single center-based and a greater likelihood of using multiple home- and center-based or multiple center-based versus single home-based arrangements. Single-mothers were more likely to use multiple home- and center-based and households with more adults were more likely to use multiple home-based versus single arrangements. 

Implications.  This study suggests that multiple arrangements result from employment constraints, care preferences, and availability of non-parental caregivers, with few differences by child age.  Findings highlight the importance of designing child care policies and programs that fit with both parents’ preferences and employment demands.