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Changes in Young Children’s Family Structures and Child Care Arrangements

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Demography

Abstract

Family structure change can disrupt the settings of children’s daily lives. Most scholarship focuses on disruption in the home environment. Moving beyond the home, this study explores the association between changes in family structure and changes in several dimensions of early child care. With longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 1,298), first-difference models reveal that family structure transitions are associated with changes in the type and quantity of early care as well as the number of care arrangements used, especially during the latter part of infancy. Given prior evidence linking these child care dimensions to behavioral and cognitive outcomes, these results suggest a policy-relevant mechanism by which family change may create inequalities among children.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD055359-01, PI: Robert Crosnoe; R24 HD42849, PI: Mark Hayward; U10 HD025460, PI: Robert Bradley, Co-PI: Robert Crosnoe; T32 HD007081-35, PI: Kelly Raley). Opinions reflect those of the authors and not necessarily the opinions of the granting agency.

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  1. Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, 305 E. 23rd Street, G1800, Austin, TX, 78712-1699, USA

    Robert Crosnoe, Kate Chambers Prickett, Chelsea Smith & Shannon Cavanagh

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  1. Robert Crosnoe
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Correspondence to Robert Crosnoe.

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Crosnoe, R., Prickett, K.C., Smith, C. et al. Changes in Young Children’s Family Structures and Child Care Arrangements. Demography 51, 459–483 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-013-0258-5

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