2011 The Palm Beach County Family Study (Full Report)

child in a childcare center or Head Start (82%) than mothers who did not receive a subsidy (42%). Almost4 in 10 mothers not using a subsidy use friends or relatives to care for their children.Table 40 also shows socio-economic and demographic differences between the group of study motherswho received a subsidy to assist with childcare costs during the previous year and those who did not. Forexample, as might be expected, mothers using subsidies were significantly more likely to have an incometo-needratio at or below the poverty level (56% vs. 39%). They were also less likely to be employed atthe time of the fifth interview than mothers who did not receive subsidies (52% vs. 74%). In addition,mothers who reported receiving a subsidy have more children than mothers who did not.Although the differences are not significant, mothers who received a subsidy for childcare were morelikely to use other income supports than were mothers who did not receive a subsidy. Other studies reporthigher use of childcare subsidies among mothers using services such as TANF and Food Stamps as wellas differences by maternal education, race/ethnicity, and age and number of children (e.g., Herbst, 2008;Lee et al., 2004; Lowe & Weisner, 2004; Shlay et al., 2004).Childcare Quality and Satisfaction with ChildcareThere is considerable evidence that the quality of care makes a difference in children’s development andreadiness for school (Burchinal et al., 2002; Howes, 1997; Howes & Smith, 1995; NICHD EarlyChildcare Research Network, 2000, 2007; Pianta et al., 2002). This is particularly true for young childrenfrom families with limited economic resources or other challenges (Karp, 2006). Thus, in this study, itwas important to examine the impact of childcare experiences and the type and quality of childcare onchildren’s outcomes. The primary source of information on childcare quality, other than a measure of themothers’ general satisfaction with their childcare arrangements, is assessment information for childcarecenters and family childcare participating in the Palm Beach County Early Childhood QualityImprovement System (QIS). Mothers who use formal childcare arrangements were asked to name theirchildcare center or individual caregiver in an effort to determine how many children were receiving carefrom providers participating in the QIS. Mothers named 106 different centers and homes as childcareproviders for 204 children; 41 (39%) were names of providers participating in the QIS as of March 18,2010 (seeChapin Hall at the University of Chicago 68