| Bruce Fuller
Harvard University
How do parents choose early school settings? The influence of family structure and parenting practices
FINAL REPORT: More than half of American infants and toddlers spend at least 20 hours per week in the care of a non- parent adult. Yet little is known about which parents select nonparental care for younger children and how old children are when initial selection occurs. In this paper, using data from a national probability sample of 2,614 households with children under age 6, we present the results of a survival analysis that identifies: (1) which families are most likely to place their youngest child in nonparental care of 20 or more hours per week; and (2) the ages when these choices are made. We find that the median child age at first placement is 33 months. We also find substantial variation about this median depending upon the family's region of residence, mother's employment status during pregnancy, mother's education level, and family structure (single parent versus two-parent, mother's age at first birth, and number of siblings). Controlling for these effects, differences by race and ethnicity are small. We discuss the implications of these findings for future studies of child-care selection, the varied environments in which infants and toddlers spend time, and the effects of early childhood programs.
Back to Funded Research Grants Page |