ED473708 PS031082
Title: The Child Care Arrangements of Preschool Children in
Immigrant Families in the United States. Working Paper Series.
Author(s): Brandon, Peter D.
Author Affiliation: Foundation for Child Development, New York,
NY.(BBB00201)
Pages: 40
Publication Date: April 2002
Available from: EDRS Price MF01/PC02 Plus Postage.
Availability: Foundation for Child Development, 145 East 32nd
Street, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10016-6055. Tel: 212-213-8337;
Fax: 212-213-5897; Web Site: http://www.ffcd.org. For full text:
http://www.ffcd.org/pdfs/BrandonImmigrantFamilies.pdf.
Language: English
Document Type: Reports--Research (143)
Geographic Source: U.S.; New York
Journal Announcement: RIEOCT2003
Noting that no national-level or population-based information has
depicted child care use among children in immigrant families and
compared their patterns of child care use with those of children of
U.S.-born parents, this study sought to determine if non-maternal care
is the norm for children of immigrant families in the United States.
The study drew on national data from the Survey of Income and Program
Participation, which permitted classifying children and parents by
their nativity status. The data span the period from 1989 to 1998,
shortly after the 1996 welfare legislation was enacted. Specific
findings about patterns of child care use among children of immigrants
include the following: (1) child care arrangements vary by immigrant
and by generational status, as well as the national origins (including
ethnicity), and poverty status of the families; (2) children in
immigrant families are less likely to use center-based care than those
in non-immigrant families; (3) kin care was found to be the most
commonly occurring primary and secondary care arrangements among
preschoolers in immigrant familiesin the five states where most
children in immigrant families reside, second-generation children
(U.S. born with at least one foreign-born parent) are more likely to
use kin care than third-generation children (native-born children with
native-born parents); (4) although not the case for Black children,
Mexican, Asian, and White children in immigrant families are less
likely to use center-based care compared to their non-immigrant peers--this difference persists for children of Mexican descent when both
parents and children are born in the U.S., and these Mexican American
children are far less likely to use center-based care than Asian,
White, and Black children whose parents are U.S.-born; (5) children in
immigrant families originating in Mexico and Asian countries are
underrepresented in center-based care compared with their
representation in the population; (6) economic resources of immigrant
families are related to costs of and time in center-based care; and
(7) based on hourly rates paid by families for non-relative or center-based care, it appears that out-of-pocket child care costs or
immigrant families' household budgets is considerably higher than that
for non-immigrant families' households. In general, these findings
suggest that immigrant families of different national or ethnic
origins take different pathways in adapting to raising their children
in new social and work conditions. (Contains 57 references.) (Author/
HTH)
Descriptors: Blacks; *Child Care; Comparative Analysis; Ethnicity;
Family Child Care; Family Financial Resources; *Immigrants;
Mexicans; Whites
Identifiers: Asians; Child Care Costs; *Day Care Selection; Foreign
Born
