Citation
Harris, Kathleen Mullan; Raley, R. Kelly; & Rindfuss, Ronald R. (2002). Family Configurations and Child-Care Patterns: Families with Two or More Preschool-Age Children. Social Science Quarterly, 83(2), 455-471.Abstract
Objectives: This article examines the extent to which mothers must find child-care arrangements for more than one preschool child and, when they do, the strategies they adopt to juggle their work and family roles.Methods: We use ntational data from numerous studies with information on fertility and hild care among employed mothers with children.
Results: We find that it is a common life-course experience for mothers to need child care for two of more preschool-age children. Employed mothers' preferred strategy for child care for their multiple preschool-age children is to place all preschoolers in the same type of arrangement, choosing parental care more often and center care less often than employed mothers with one preschooler.
Conclusions: Previous child-care research has ignored the complexities parents face when they must make child-care decisions about all their preschool-age children simultaneously. Child-care decisions need to be studied within the family and household context.
URL
https://www.jstor.org/stable/42955800Reference Type
Journal ArticleYear Published
2002Journal Title
Social Science QuarterlyAuthor(s)
Harris, Kathleen MullanRaley, R. Kelly
Rindfuss, Ronald R.