2011 The Palm Beach County Family Study (Full Report)

for 6 months, but when the subsidy ran out, the children were back home with their parents andgrandmother again.Regarding the number of different types of childcare, 4 in 10 of the children were in fairly stable carearrangements, meaning that they were either in the same setting (15%) or in no more than two or threedifferent settings across the nine time points (see Table 35). Most children who were in the samearrangement were at home with a parent. Children who were in two or three different arrangements mostoften experienced a mix of parental care and care by a relative. Nonetheless, although a majority of focalchildren experienced three or fewer different childcare arrangements during the first 5 years of their lives,over half (55%) of them had three or more transitions in care; the remainder experienced four or moretransitions in their childcare arrangements during this time. Table C- 15 provides additional detail on therange of childcare arrangements for the focal children over time.Table 35. Minimum Number of Transitions in Focal Children’s Care Arrangements Year 1 to Year 5 aNumber of Transitions across Nine Time Points bFrequency Percent of Total(n=284)TransitionsNone 43 15One 30 11Two 41 14Three 43 15Four 49 17Five 45 16Six 18 6Seven 9 3Eight 6 2a Consistent with the analysis of types of childcare arrangements over time, we did not weight the data to account for theoversampling of mothers in the Glades and mothers assessed “at risk.” Twenty-six mothers who were not interviewed at one ormore of the 6-month telephone follow-up points, although interviewed at all five yearly points, are not included in this analysis aswe do not know what type of childcare arrangements their focal child was in at all nine time points.b The nine time points include year 1 (1–6 mos.), 1.5 (6–12 mos.), 2 (12–18 mos.), 2.5 (18–24 mos.), 3 (24–30 mos.), 3.5 (30–36mos.), 4 (36–42 mos.) 4.5 (42–48 mos.), and 5 (48–54 mos.).Correlates and Predictors of Childcare UseBivariate associations presented in Table 36 indicate family characteristics associated with use ofchildcare, including the work status of mothers, whether or not they are attending school or a job trainingprogram, and a variety of sociodemographic characteristics. Consistent with the previous year, we foundthat U.S.-born mothers were more likely than foreign-born mothers to use childcare; similarly, black andwhite/other mothers were more likely than Hispanic mothers to use childcare. In addition, mothers withmore education and those living above the poverty line were more likely to use childcare. On the otherhand, mothers without a husband/partner were also more likely to use childcare.Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago 61