Cutbacks in daycare services: implications for recipients.

Abstract

Several previous works have explored the effects of daycare provision (1, 2, 3). Very little effort has been expended to examine the potential effects of cutbacks in daycare services that might result from attempts to reduce government funding of social programs. Persons who have been receiving subsidized daycare and are then deprived of it may respond quite differently from those who have never received such support. This analysis was designed to examine the possible effects of daycare cutbacks on those receiving them. An attempt was made to determine whether short- versus longterm recipients differ in their perceived ability to cope without the subsidy and whether their actual financial situations differed. The subjects were clients of the Department of Social Services (DSS) in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Fifty recipients (those who had received subsidized daycare for an average of 27 mo.) were randomly selected from DSS rolls. Eighty-two recipients (those receiving subsidies for 8 mo. or less) were similarly selected. Of the 25 recipients and 11 recipients from whom complete data were obtained, 95 % were female, 84% were black, and 86% were single parents. Information about clients' income and demographic characteristics was obtained from DSS records. Information about clients' perceived future needs for daycare and how they would cope with funding cutbacks was obtained from telephone interviews. Compared to recent recipients, the long-term recipients had higher monthly incomes ($720 vs $433) (t~ = 231, p < .05) and older children (t = 5.94, df = 34.97. p < .0001), although the two groups did nor differ in number of children. Recent and long-term recipients did not differ in how they thought they would deal with cutbacks, and 46% indicated that they would have to quit working. Those who believed that they could make other arrangements anticipated that this would demand such sacrifices as finding cheaper housing and cutting back on food expenses, which would cause some emotional stresses in the family. Recent recipients of daycare perceived themselves as needing daycare subsidies for an average of 17 mo. while long-term recipients saw themselves as needing 23 mo. in addition to the 27 mo. they had already received subsidies, although this difference was not significanc. This suggests that the recent recipients' expectations regarding their needs for daycare subsidies might be unrealistically low.