Who Cares for America's Children? (1990) / Chapter Skim
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IV FUTURE DIRECTIONS9 Recommendations for Data Collection and Research
IV FUTURE DIRECTIONS9 Recommendations for Data Collection and Research
Pages 267-287
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From page 267... ...
IV Future Directions
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From page 269... ...
Although researchers have made significant advances in knowledge about child care in recent years, we have repeatedly noted that many questions remain unanswered, and those questions suggest priorities for future data collection and research. Many of the panel's recommendations reiterate and expand on the work of previous panels and study groups of the Committee on Child Development Research and Public Policy (see Committee on Child Development Research and Public Policy, 1981; Hayes, 1987; Hayes and Kamerman, 1983; and Kamerman and Hayes, 1982~.
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From page 270... ...
Data concerning levels and variations in parents' employment, income, family structure, and the availability, use, and costs of child care services of different types were the basis for much of the panel's deliberations. In addition, the panel relied on data concerning the health and well-being of children and their adaptations to the social and economic changes in U.S.
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From page 271... ...
Information concerning the availability of different types of child care programs and arrangements and their regulation and financing is not available from any central source. And although states collect some of these data, they are not centrally available even at the state level: for example, although state licensing agencies collect data on the number of licensed child care facilities and their capacities, they do not keep information on early childhood programs operated by schools or Head Start.
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Although there is a great detail of resistance to further expansion of the census, these data would be extremely useful to child care researchers and policy analysts. The CPS is the source of monthly estimates of employment and unemployment, including extensive detail on population characteristics.
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In addition to its fixed questions, covered in "topical modules," SIPP also contains variable "topical modules," one of which in 1984-1985 covered child care arrangements. These data have been extremely useful in examining parents' use of alternative child care arrangements as they relate to income and program participation, as well as other demographic factors.
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From page 274... ...
They are also available at the federal level for specific programs such as Head Start and the Child Care Food Program. State regulatory agencies usually collect data on the programs they regulate, including licensed child care centers and family day care homes.
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Department of Agriculture, which compiles it in a computerized data base. Information from the food program is valuable because it presents a partial picture of family day care in addition to center care.
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From page 276... ...
Department of Education, that will survey directors of child care centers, preschools, and licensed family day care providers. Although unlicensed providers will not be included, these two surveys, taken together, will provide the most comprehensive picture of child care supply and demand yet available.
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From page 277... ...
In Chapters 3 through 5, we highlighted a variety of salient research issues and questions. They are presented here under five general headings: dimensions of child care quality; the relationship between child care quality and family characteristics; participation in child care during the first year of life; family day care, care by relatives, and use of multiple forms of care; and health in child care settings.
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From page 278... ...
A decade after the publication of the National Day Care Study, which set forth the methodological and conceptual basis for using randomization and manipulation in studies of quality dimensions in community-based child care, it is surprising that subsequent research on quality has not complemented the body of naturalistic studies with more experimental ones. Future research should examine the implications of (1)
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How do parents weigh various dimensions of quality in judging and choosing child care settings for their children? What are the relevant folk beliefs or cultural norms that influence their decisions?
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In the future, decisions concerning the organization of child care programs and the mix of public child care policies should be much more explicitly linked to the results of research on what parents prefer and what they are really choosing in child care. The links between family characteristics and child care quality may provide an exemplar of what we have referred to as transactional processes in development: the mutual influence of the child (and family)
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From page 281... ...
1b what extent do findings of anxious-avoidant attachment in infants with a history of full-time child care attendance in the first year reflect the use of poor-quality infant day care rather than the use of infant day care per se? Throughout the earlier chapters of this report, we have questioned whether infant care is of adequate quality given the developmental needs of these very young children and the cost of providing that care.
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From page 282... ...
As a result, less is known about the development of children in this type of child care setting and about the specific features of family day care that risk or support children's development. Future child care research needs to examine systematically the experiences of children in family day care (especially unlicensed family day care)
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Are there similar effects in other child care settings or only for
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From page 284... ...
Federal and state funding agencies, along with private foundations and corporations, should support policy analyses and program evaluations to inform public- and pr~vate-sector decision making. Between the late 1970s, when the National Day Care Study and the National Day Care Home Study were completed, and the late 1980s there was a dearth of national policy studies of child care issues.
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From page 285... ...
Federal labor and wage policies affect employment and unemployment rates; income tax policies may affect decisions, especially married mothers' decisions, to work; income transfer policies may affect the employment decisions of single as well as married mothers by providing incentives and disincentives to work; and federal policies toward employers, through direct legislation, tax incentives, and regulation, influence the extent and ways in which employers structure their employee policies and benefits (Kamerman and Hayes, 1982~. The federal and state governments have been the major fenders of publicly subsidized child care and related services since World War II.
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In particular, the panel has identified several sets of questions that merit attention: · What are the effects of regulation on the supply and mix of child care? Do more restrictive requirements discourage center care providers or family day care providers from entering the market?
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Phillips, and S Grajek 1985 Day care as intervention: Comparisons of varying quality programs.
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