2 Childcare Centers and Mothers’ Well‐Being

Abstract

AbstractUsing national data on mothers of young children, this chapter examines whether mothers who enrolled their children in centers thereby enlarged their own social networks, particularly the number of friends they reported. It also asks whether these networks improved mothers’ wellbeing. Results are consistent with expectations: mothers who patronized childcare centers tended to make new friends there, and making friends in centers was strongly and robustly associated with lower material hardship and mental hardship.