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Decision-Making of Mothers in Hong Kong Regarding the Occasional Use of Alternative Child-Care Arrangements

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Abstract

This study examines the use of alternative child-care arrangements as an everyday life decision in a family context. Interviews with twenty-four mothers from a working class neighborhood in a new town in Hong Kong were transcribed and analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Results of the analysis outlined: (a) the structural components of making a decision regarding alternative care, which consisted of demands, resource options, definitions of the situation, types of decision situations, and the respective decision-making strategies; and (b) the nature of decision-making processes, varying from ad hoc to standing. Together, these aspects illuminate how mothers make decisions regarding the use of alternative child-care arrangements and, in turn, the characteristics of family decision-making in everyday life.

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Tam, V.C.W., Rettig, K.D. Decision-Making of Mothers in Hong Kong Regarding the Occasional Use of Alternative Child-Care Arrangements. Journal of Family and Economic Issues 20, 163–190 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022106827083

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