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Managing Work and Family: The Decision to Outsource Child Care in Families Engaged in Family-Owned Businesses

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Abstract

This study investigates the decision to outsource child care among families involved in family-owned businesses. A management framework is used to examine the impact of inputs to the decision (i.e., goals and resources) and level of management activity (i.e., planning and implementing) in these families as predictors of the choice to outsource child care. The data are a sub-sample of the data from a project entitled, “Family Businesses: Interaction in Work and Family Spheres” (Winter, Fitzgerald, Heck, Haynes, & Danes, 1998) undertaken in 1997. Study findings indicate that household managers who work in the family business are less likely to outsource child care compared to those who work outside the family business. More educated household managers purchased more, and managers in larger families fewer hours of child care. Female household managers purchased significantly fewer hours of child care compared to their male counterparts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University, 141 MVR Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14850

    Rosemary J. Avery

  2. Department of Health and Human Development, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT

    Deborah C. Haynes

  3. Montana State University, Bozeman, MT

    George W. Haynes

Authors
  1. Rosemary J. Avery
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  2. Deborah C. Haynes
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  3. George W. Haynes
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Avery, R.J., Haynes, D.C. & Haynes, G.W. Managing Work and Family: The Decision to Outsource Child Care in Families Engaged in Family-Owned Businesses. Journal of Family and Economic Issues 21, 227–258 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009433317645

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