Abstract
Millions of parents use non-parental childcare for their preschool-age children. Prior research has focused on family characteristics that are associated with parents’ preferences of early care and education arrangements. Yet, little is known about preschool parents’ perspectives of the childcare search process. To further explore how parents search for childcare, we conducted a mixed methods study focusing on parents in a single state in the USA. Our findings suggest that families have to make trade-offs between quality and practicality when choosing childcare. During the childcare search process, families relied heavily on personal networks for childcare referrals and were unaware of public childcare information sources. Parents make childcare decisions based on their perceptions of care. As states across the nation develop their consumer education program, it is important to develop a family-friendly program to reduce search barriers for parents who look for childcare information.
Résumé
Des millions de parents utilisent des services de garde non parentaux pour leurs enfants d'âge préscolaire. Les recherches antérieures se sont concentrées sur les caractéristiques familiales associées aux préférences des parents en matière d'arrangements pour la garde et l'éducation précoces. Cependant, on sait peu de choses sur les perspectives des parents d'enfants d'âge préscolaire concernant le processus de recherche de garde. Pour explorer davantage comment les parents recherchent des services de garde, nous avons mené une étude à méthodes mixtes en nous concentrant sur des parents dans un seul État aux États-Unis. Nos résultats suggèrent que les familles doivent faire des compromis entre la qualité et la praticité lorsqu'elles choisissent un service de garde. Au cours du processus de recherche de garde, les familles ont beaucoup compté sur leurs réseaux personnels pour obtenir des recommandations de garde et n'étaient pas au courant des sources d'information publiques sur les services de garde. Les parents prennent des décisions en matière de garde en fonction de leurs perceptions de la qualité de la garde. Alors que les États à travers le pays développent leur programme d'éducation des consommateurs, il est important de développer un programme convivial pour les familles afin de réduire les obstacles à la recherche d'informations sur la garde d'enfants.
Resumen
Millones de padres utilizan cuidado infantil no parental para sus hijos en edad preescolar. Investigaciones anteriores se han centrado en las características familiares que están asociadas con las preferencias de los padres en cuanto a los arreglos de cuidado y educación temprana. Sin embargo, se sabe poco sobre las perspectivas de los padres de preescolares sobre el proceso de búsqueda de cuidado infantil. Para explorar más a fondo cómo los padres buscan cuidado infantil, realizamos un estudio de métodos mixtos enfocado en padres en un solo estado en los EE. UU. Nuestros hallazgos sugieren que las familias tienen que hacer concesiones entre la calidad y la practicidad al elegir cuidado infantil. Durante el proceso de búsqueda de cuidado infantil, las familias dependieron en gran medida de las redes personales para referencias de cuidado infantil y desconocían las fuentes de información pública sobre cuidado infantil. Los padres toman decisiones sobre el cuidado infantil basadas en sus percepciones del cuidado. A medida que los estados de todo el país desarrollan su programa de educación del consumidor, es importante desarrollar un programa familiar para reducir las barreras de búsqueda para los padres que buscan información sobre cuidado infantil.
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Notes
The Relative Care Program is a Department of Health and Social Services program in Delaware that aims to educate relative care providers and help them provide high-quality childcare.
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Acknowledgements
The project described was supported by the OPRE Child Care Research Scholars Dissertation Grant, Grant Number 90YE0212, from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents of this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, the Administration for Children and Families, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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The work was supported by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [90YE0212].
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Tang, J., Pic, A., Kelly, C.L. et al. Parents’ Perspectives on Child Care Search Processes and Consumer Education Resources. IJEC (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-024-00389-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-024-00389-y