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Child Care Subsidy Use and Child Care Quality in Low-Wealth, Rural Communities

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Abstract

Child care subsidy programs serve to reduce the number of families for whom child care is a barrier to work. Child care is essential to economic self-sufficiency, and it can also support child development, particularly for low-income children. However, most research has an urban focus so little is known about rural settings where formal programs are limited and of lower quality. In this paper we examine the subsidy use of rural families, the care arrangements they make, and the quality of care received. We utilized data collected between 2004 and 2007 from the Family Life Project, a representative, longitudinal study of non-metro families in low-wealth counties (n = 1,292), oversampled for low-income and African-American families. Families who used subsidies were more likely to select center-based care, typically of higher quality. Further, these families were also more likely to receive higher quality care, regardless of the type chosen, even after accounting for a host of family and community factors. Findings suggest that subsidy programs have successfully moved low-income children into higher quality care beneficial for development. These findings point to the need to maintain subsidy programs and encourage eligible families to take advantage of such resources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, 517 S. Greensboro Street, Carrboro, NC, 27510, USA

    Allison De Marco

  2. School of Education Science and Special Education, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, 301K Peabody Hall #3500, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    Lynne Vernon-Feagans

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  1. Allison De Marco
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Family Life Project Key Investigators

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Correspondence to Allison De Marco.

Additional information

The members of Family Life Project Key Investigators is listed in Appendix.

Appendix

Appendix

The Family Life Project Phase I Key Investigators include: Lynne Vernon-Feagans, University of North Carolina; Martha Cox, University of North Carolina; Clancy Blair, New York University; Peg Burchinal, University of North Carolina; Linda Burton, Duke University; Keith Crnic, Arizona State University; Ann Crouter, Pennsylvania State University; Patricia Garrett-Peters, University of North Carolina; Mark Greenberg, Pennsylvania State University; Stephanie Lanza, Pennsylvania State University; Roger Mills-Koonce, University of North Carolina; Emily Werner, Pennsylvania State University and Michael Willoughby, University of North Carolina. We would like to acknowledge the valuable assistance of Christina Galunas, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, and Cathy Zimmer, Odum Institute for Social Sciences Research, at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. This research was supported by NICHD P01-HD-39667 and ACF #90YE0126, with co-funding by NIDA.

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De Marco, A., Vernon-Feagans, L. & Family Life Project Key Investigators. Child Care Subsidy Use and Child Care Quality in Low-Wealth, Rural Communities. J Fam Econ Iss 36, 383–395 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-014-9401-8

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