Low Income Families’ Search for Quality Child Care Four Community Profiles

1. Low Income Families’ Search for Quality Child CareFour Community Profiles Demetra Evangelou Susan Kontos Jim Elicker Department of Child Development and Family Studies Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 47907-1269 USA Research funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

2. Outline • Overview of study Community Child Care Research Project (CCCRP) • Purpose • Methods • Findings • Implications EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

3. Indiana: The crossroads of America • Population: 6,080,485 ethnic • Capitol city: Indianapolis • Median income for 4 person family: $62,097 • 15.4% of children under 5 in poverty (national 20.8%) • Unemployment rate: 5% • More exempt care than other states • 34% single parent household • 7.3 % LBW • 90.000 children in subsidized care EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

4. Research Questions • Types of child care settings low income working poor families use • Problems in finding and maintaining child care arrangements • Flexibility in the child care arrangements and in employment conditions Community Variations EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

5. Project Overview EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

6. Population Working poor families • Families that earn $35,000 or less/year • Training/in school/working • Single mother/absent father • Very young • Multiple children • Not receiving TANF (welfare) EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

7. Purpose • Describe the difficulties experienced by low income working poor families in finding and maintaining child care for their children • Understand the process by which families find and maintain reliable, affordable and acceptable in quality child care EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

8. Methodology • Child Care Expert key Informant Interviews • Semi structured phone interviews • Parent Focus Groups • Semi structured face to face interviews • State Data EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

9. Parents Safety trust Who should care for the children Child age The subsidy cycle Employer involvement Flexible hours Transportation Experts Rising demand Parent education Improve quality Provider training Alternative forms Subsidies General findings EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

10. Child Care Settings in the Four Counties EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

11. Locating Child Care • Allen “Try to keep my kids at home, you know under my wings” • Lake “People who work there they make it hard for you” • Marion Look around the neighborhood, make appointments, internet EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

12. Flexibility • Allen “They don’t care what your excuse is..they have no sympathy for people with kids” • Marion “..so it would be nice sometime to know that ok it’s Tuesday and my kids can be there and I am going to do grocery shopping” • St. Joseph “Child care centers should be available you know for working parents during the day and also students in the evening” EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

13. Problems • Allen “The vicious circle that goes” • Lake “It was so inflexible that it was impossible to work the three to eleven shift” • Marion “I don’t like that sometimes a lot of teachers are coming and going…get some good teachers and pay them a little more so they can stay.” • St. Joseph “I did not want her in a home day care because she basically when the kids go there they watch cartoons and that’s what they did all day long” EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

14. Financial Resources • Allen “Child care is expensive, my daughter is $180 a week…if it wasn’t for the voucher agent I wouldn’t have been able to pay for it.” • Lake “You know it is impossible at $7.85 an hour” • Marion “look at us we are all single mothers, we all work 40/50 hours a week just to pay the rent….I don’t know what I would have done” • St. Joseph “If I make anything more than what I make, they’ll pull my child care” EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

15. Dreaming • Allen “An ideal child care would be affordable and you know that your child is watched like a hawk every second” • Lake “Trust, trusting relationship with your kids, dependable, pick them up, drop them off and it just really trusting somebody” • Marion “You can drop them off whenever you want to” • St. Joseph “Longer hours, come to my home” EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

16. Community • Allen Affordable and closer to work places • Marion “If you qualify for this program and send our child to day care so you can go to work” • St. Joseph “People that are working and going to school and trying to do the right thing should get the extra help” EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

17. Supports Family Subsidies Challenges Single parents Safety/trust Need for back up care Fragile balance Planning for a rainy day:Low income working poor families EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

18. Implications • Child care quality • Parental education/expectations • Accessibility • Flexibility • Affordability • Employer support • Policy design EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002

19. THANK YOU EECERA conference Nicosia, Cyprus, August 28-31, 2002