Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T12:45:10.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Stability and Change in Childcare and Employment: Evidence from the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2020

Cynthia Miller*
Affiliation:
MDRC

Abstract

Using a unique data set from the US to examine the association between employment stability and childcare stability, we find that childcare use is fairly stable for current and former welfare recipients. In addition, although childcare instability contributes to employment instability, it does not appear to be the major reason women leave their jobs. In this case, employment retention programmes in the US, while not losing focus on childcare issues, should also address other barriers to keeping jobs, such as limited education and lack of work experience.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This paper was funded by a grant from the US Child Care Bureau and the US Department of Health and Human Services. Thanks are given to Lisa Gennetian, Pamela Morris, and Chuck Michalopoulos for helpful comments and to Tracey Hoy for research assistance.

References

Blau, D. and Robins, P. (1991a), ‘Turnover in child care arrangements’, Review of Economics and Statistics, 73, 1, pp. 152157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blau, D. and Robins, P. (1991b), ‘Child care demand and labor supply of young mothers over time’, Demography, 28, 3, pp. 333351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blau, D. and Robins, P. (1998), ‘A dynamic analysis of turnover in employment and child care’, Demography, 35, 1, pp. 8396.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bloom, D., Anderson, J., Wavelet, M., Gardiner, K.N. and Fishman, M.E. (2002a), New Strategies to Promote Stable Employment and Career Progression: An Introduction to the Employment Retention and Advancement Project, US Department of Health and Human Services.Google Scholar
Bloom, D., Kemple, J., Morris, P., Scrivener, S., Verma, N. and Hendra, R. (2002b), The Family Transition Programme: Final Report on Florida's Initial Time-Limited Welfare Programme, New York, MDRC.Google Scholar
Bloom, D., Scrivener, S., Michalopoulos, C., Morris, P., Hendra, R., Adams-Ciardullo, D. and Walter, J. (2002), Jobs First: Final Report on Connecticut's Welfare Reform Initiative, New York, MDRC.Google Scholar
Francesconi, M. and Van der Klaauw, W. (2004), ‘The socioeconomic consequences of ‘in-work’ benefit reform for British lone mothers’, mimeo, University of Essex.Google Scholar
Fuller, B., Kagan, S., Caspary, G. and Gauthier, C. (2002), ‘Welfare reform and child care options for low-income families’, Future of Children 12(1).Google ScholarPubMed
Gennetian, L. and Michalopoulos, C. (2003), ‘Child care and employment: evidence from random assignment studies of welfare and work programmes’, Next Generation Working Paper No. 17, New York, MDRC.Google Scholar
Gennetian, L. and Miller, C. (2000), Reforming Welfare and Rewarding Work: Final Report on the Minnesota Family Investment Programme: Volume 2: Effects on Children, New York, MDRC.Google Scholar
Gennetian, L., Morris, P. and Vargas, W. (2001), ‘Dynamics of child care subsidy use under a welfare reform policy’, New York, MDRC.Google Scholar
Harries, T., La Valle, I. and Dickens, S. (2004), Childcare: How Local Markets Respond to National Initiatives, Research Report RR526, Department for Education and Skills.Google Scholar
Hayes, C., Palmer, J. and Zaslow, M. (1990), Who Cares for America's Children? Child Care Policy for the 1990s, Washington, DC, The National Academy of Sciences Press.Google Scholar
Hofferth, S., Brayfield, A., Deich, S. and Holcomb, P. (1991), National Child Care Survey, 1990, Washington, D.C., The Urban Institute.Google Scholar
Isaacs, J. and Lyon, M. (2000), A Cross-State Examination of Families Leaving Welfare: Findings from the ASPE-Funded Leavers Studies, Division of Data and Technical Analysis, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, US Department of Health and Human Services.Google Scholar
Knox, V., Miller, C. and Gennetian, L. (2000), Reforming Welfare and Rewarding Work: A Summary of the Final Report on the Minnesota Family Investment Programme, New York, MDRC.Google Scholar
Millar, J. and Evans, M. (eds) (2003), Lone Parents and Employment: International Comparisons of What Works, Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy.Google Scholar
Schumacher, R. and Greenberg, M. (1999), ‘Child care after leaving welfare: early evidence from state studies’, Washington D.C., Center for Law and Social Policy.Google Scholar
Woodland, S., Miller, M. and Tipping, S. (2004), Repeat Study of Parents’ Demand for Child Care, Research Report RR348, Department for Education and Skills.Google Scholar