Parental Child Care Research Articles

Converging trends in developmental child care time by fathers' education? Comment on Cha and Park (2021)

AbstractObjectiveThis comment uses more recently available data to examine the robustness of the converging trends in developmental child care time by parental education argued by Cha & Park (2021, Journal of Marriage and Family, 83, 769–785).BackgroundDrawing on the 2003–2017 American Time Use Survey, Cha and Park concluded that the educational gaps in developmental child care time have converged and called for future research on its implications for social egalitarianism. This conclusion must be supported by sufficient evidence showing persistent converging trends in the subsequent years. Otherwise, Cha and Park's (2021) conclusion of greater equality in parents' developmental child care time does not provide a basis for future studies.MethodUsing the same data, sampling, measures, and analytic strategy, the comment first replicates the results from the original study between 2003 and 2017 and then extends to 2020, which is the most recent available time‐use data upon submission.ResultsDescriptive analysis shows that the least‐educated fathers' time spent on developmental child care was highly volatile after 2015. In multivariate analysis, the interaction terms between fathers' education and year in OLS models are minimal and not statistically significant when extends to 2020, indicating no sufficient evidence to support Cha and Park's (2021) conclusion for fathers.ConclusionWhile the educational gaps in developmental child care time among mothers continue to converge, the same trend does not show for fathers. The inconsistent conclusions suggest it is premature to announce greater equality in parental child care time by parental education.

Beyond the clock: Rethinking the meaning of unpaid childcare in the U.S.

Can parental childcare be described as productive work? If so, is this work reducible to the specific physical activities designated in most time use surveys, or does it include more diffuse responsibilities for supervision, socialization, and management? These questions invite attention to debates over the meaning of work itself, which have been shaped not only by gender and academic discipline, but also by empirical results of diary-based time use surveys. Recent quantitative research strongly suggests that neither the temporal demands, nor the economic contributions of parental childcare are fully captured by conventional measurement of specific childcare activities. The numbers themselves urge us to look beyond the clock to carefully consider how time use categories are conceptualized.

Childcare centre for work efficiency of employed parents: perception analysis for business prospects

PurposeThis study aims to explore whether the working parents' perception about the necessity of childcare centres for their work efficiency is associated with their anxieties and concerns related to their dual responsibilities, i.e. providing proper parental childcare and maintaining work efficiency.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 100 employed parents, from the Jashore region of Bangladesh, was surveyed, and descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data.FindingsIt was revealed that there is a strong association between the perceived negative impact on job performance, childcare, child development, work efficiency and perceived need for a childcare centre.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation of this study is that it was confined to Jashore University of Science and Technology. The results may differ from those of the study conducted outside this study area and the methodology used here.Practical implicationsThis study has significant practical implications for employers, childcare service providers and policy makers, especially in Bangladesh. The employers will be able to understand the demand for childcare services centres among the employed parents in respective organizations. It will draw attention of employers of knowledge intensive industries and grants commission to the issue of conflict of work and childcare-related responsibilities of employed parents. This will also make employers conscious about the dilemma that is undergone by employed parents motivating them to take actions for minimizing such conflicts to ensure better job performance of working parents.Social implicationsBased on this study, childcare providers and other policy makers will be able to ascertain the potential size of the childcare market and determine the requirement for investment in childcare-related human resources development. As the work and childcare responsibilities compete for limited time of working parents, either childcare or job performance suffers. This causes concerns, anxieties or remorse, which again hampers the job performance further. Therefore, this study may motivate the university authority around the world, specifically those in Bangladesh, to provide childcare facilities for its faculties, students and other employees.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on growing demand for centre-based childcare services in an emerging economy context. It provides evidence of high demand for on- and off-site childcare centres to enhance work efficiency of working parents.

The Effect of Household Technology on Child Health: Evidence from China's "Home Appliances Going to the Countryside" Policy.

This paper examined the effects of household technology on child health using evidence from the Chinese government’s “Home Appliances Going to the Countryside” policy. A difference-in-differences approach was employed to examine 2000 to 2015 data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey data from before the policy in 2007 to after the policy was implemented. It was found that the policy-induced household technology adoption significantly increased child health, especially girls’ health. Various sensitivity tests proved this finding to be robust. The potential paths through which household technology improved child health were also examined from which it was found that parental care for children and increased nutrition were effective paths between household technology and health status. These results could guide policymakers when constructing and developing a supportive child health system in China.

The care of children when Pacific parents live apart: A case of mothers and othermothers caring together

ABSTRACT Shared post-separation parenting has become legally and culturally idealised across many Western jurisdictions. Shared parental responsibility is often accompanied by a presumption that parents will share care time as well as a cultural imaginary of involved shared parental care for children. However, little is known about how care work is organised and enacted following separation. Drawing on interviews with 15 separated Pacific parents, 10 mothers and five fathers, in New Zealand, this paper explores whether shared care time translates into mothers and fathers sharing post-separation care work for children. Our examination pays especial attention to how collectivised approaches to caring interacts with gender to shape how care for children is organised and performed following separation. In pursuing this, we examine gendered differences in how and with whom Pacific mothers and fathers care for their children post-separation. We conclude by arguing that the Pacific mothers’ and fathers’ everyday care practices were embedded in collectivist approaches to parenting, with mothers and fathers sharing care work in gendered ways with othermothers. What emerges from the Pacific mothers’ and fathers’ talk is that care work relies on gendered practices of care that are underpinned by gendered divisions of care labour in the family.

Role of Parents, Family and Primary Learning Centres in Childcare and Protection: A Study with Special Reference to Mizoram, India

Family is the most basic and primary social unit. For a child, parents are the first teachers who guide and educate the child in every way possible. It is this socialisation of the children given by the parents in the family which moulds the character of the child from a very young age telling them right from wrong, protecting the children from harm and danger thereby providing them with the basic necessities of life and also healthy living. Traditionally in Mizo society, the mother besides child-rearing, took care of her home, juggling multiple tasks in and around the house and in the fields. While she was busy doing household chores, grandmothers and older siblings looked after the small children acting as caretakers and protectors. With the changing nature of family due to various socio-economic factors and with the Government’s aims at improving the condition of the country’s assets, i.e. the role of parents childcare and child protection are relevant today regarding children’s developmental needs and representing their best interests.This paper presents the significant importance of the role of parents, family and primary learning centres like Anganwadi in matters of childcare and protection in Mizoram, India. The paper relies on secondary information collected from the case studies of the department of women and child development and child protection agencies in Mizoram.

Psikoedukasi mengenai stunting pada anak dan peran pengasuhan orangtua untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan mengenai stunting

Parenting patterns will determine how parents behave in preventing and overcoming stunting. Community service in the form of psychoeducation through online seminars (webinar) is considered necessary to provide understanding and knowledge to parents about stunting and the role of parents in child care to prevent and overcome stunting. Psychoeducation activities are carried out through webinars due to the Covid-19 pandemic conditions which make it impossible to gather in one place. This psychoeducation activity was attended by 88 participants consisting of housewives, working mothers and teenagers. The selection of participants was done by distributing activity posters and contacting several PAUDs. The effectiveness of psychoeducational activities is seen through an open questionnaire given to participants before and after the implementation of the activity. An open questionnaire in the form of questions that participants must answer descriptively to see the participants' responses to the implementation of psychoeducation. The results obtained from psychoeducational activities through this webinar showed that participants found this activity useful and provided new knowledge about stunting, especially parenting

Childcare, work or worries? What explains the decline in parents' well-being at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany?

Objective: We examine how care arrangements, general and altered working conditions, and worries influenced subjective well-being at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic for working parents in Germany.
 Background: Prior research suggests several reasons for declines in subjective well-being, particularly for working mothers. We employ Pearlin's (1989) stress process model to explore the role of parental childcare, altered working conditions and amplified worries of working parents in terms of increased stressors and modified resources to cope with the extraordinary situation.
 Method: We use data from two starting cohorts from the National Educational Panel Study and its supplementary COVID-19 web survey from spring 2020 to examine possible heterogeneities in contextual factors for individual-level changes in the well-being of working mothers and fathers.
 Results: We confirm a more pronounced decline in well-being for working mothers than fathers. Part-time work and access to emergency care reduce the gender gap in decreased well-being. Conversely, young children in the household and personal worries are associated with lower well-being for both parents. However, we cannot explain the more significant decrease in mothers’ well-being by increased childcare responsibilities or altered working conditions.
 Conclusion: A greater decline in well-being indicates a particular burden among working mothers. However, it cannot be linked solely to gendered inequalities in the changes of paid and unpaid work during the first months of the pandemic.

Gender and Educational Variation in How Temporal Dimensions of Paid Work Affect Parental Child Care Time.

Using the 2017-2018 American Time Use Survey, the authors investigate how a comprehensive set of temporal conditions of paid work affects parental child care time, with attention to gender and education. Temporal work conditions include access to leave, inflexible start and end times, short advance notice of work schedules, types of work shifts, and usual days worked. Among mothers, the only significant relationship is between usual days worked and routine care time. Among fathers, lacking access to paid leave and having inflexible start and end times are associated with reduced routine care time, and working on variable days of the week is related to less developmental care time. Temporal work conditions also shape the educational gap in parental child care time. Importantly, nonstandard shifts and working on weekends widen the educational gradient in mothers' developmental care time. The findings imply that temporal work conditions amplify gender inequality in work-family lives and families as agents of class reproduction.

Sibling caring roles and responsibilities when a child suffers from a chronic illness

AbstractSiblings' lives and well‐being are potentially affected in profound ways when their brother or sister suffers from a chronic illness in childhood. The shift in the care of chronically ill children from the hospital to the home in recent years has had an impact on family relationships and interactions. Whilst studies on caregiving have focused on the parental care of children who are chronically ill; siblings may nevertheless take on some caring roles and responsibilities. This article intends to make a novel contribution to the sociological literature on siblings, caring, and chronic illness by presenting a review of the literature addressing siblings' caring roles and responsibilities in families of children with a chronic illness. Knowing about the caring roles and responsibilities undertaken by siblings when a brother or sister has a chronic illness, may be beneficial to healthcare professionals and influence their caring practice. In addition, this work may contribute to a better understanding of family relationships and further improve healthcare policies.

Kontribusi Muhasabah dalam Mengembangkan Resiliensi Pada Orang Tua Anak Berkebutuhan Khusus

The phenomenon of the poor quality of parental care for children with disabilities makes resilience one of the psychological capital that contributes to improving the quality of care. This study describes how through a muhasabah intervention in Blimbingrejo Village, Nalumsari District, Jepara Regency. The purpose of this study was to provide information for parents of children with special needs about muhasabah interventions in developing the resilience abilities of parents when carrying out their care. The urgency of this research is to reduce parenting stress experienced by parents because of the developmental barriers of their children. This research is qualitative with a case study approach through in-depth interviews and observation techniques. The study results explain that the condition of children with special needs is often a stressor for their parents. However, parents can live with complete steadfastness as a form of their resilience. The pattern of resilience formed is supported mainly by thinking about what they are trying to do. There are indications of the meaning of resilience factors in the practice of muhasabah in the form of the ability to regulate emotions, develop optimism and empathy, control impulses and causal analysis, good self-efficacy and take wisdom as an indication of aspects of the reaching out process. The results of this study are helpful information in developing the concept and practice of caring for children with special needs.

The Intrinsic Value of Childcare: Positive Returns of Childcare Time on Parents’ Well-Being and Life Satisfaction in Italy

An extensive literature shows that parental childcare time has increased considerably over the past decades in Western countries and that children benefit from spending time with their parents. In contrast, less is known about whether and to what extent parents benefit from spending time with their children. This article fills this gap by asking whether parents enjoy childcare, and whether an association exists between time spent doing childcare and life satisfaction. Moreover, it tests whether the association varies among parents with different working statuses, specifically by comparing full-time employed fathers with full-time employed, part-time employed, and non-employed mothers. Multivariate analyses based on nationally representative time use data for Italy (2013–2014) show that parents find childcare—especially interactive childcare activities—much more pleasant than other daily activities such as employment or housework. Furthermore, the results reveal a positive association between childcare time and life satisfaction among full-time employed parents, but not among part-time employed or non-employed mothers, pointing to important between and within gender inequalities in the costs and benefits of investments in family time.

How does parental time relate to social class in a Nordic welfare state?

Time intensive parenting has spread in Western countries. This study contributes to the literature on parental time use, aiming to deepen our understanding of the relationship between parental childcare time and social class. Based on time-diary data (2010–2011) from Norway, and a concept of social class that links parents’ amount and composition of economic and cultural capital, we examine the time spent by parents on childcare activities. The analysis shows that class and gender intersect: intensive motherhood, as measured by time spent on active childcare, including developmental childcare activities thought to stimulate children's skills, is practised by all mothers. A small group of mothers in the economic upper-middle class fraction spend even more time on childcare than the other mothers. The time fathers spend on active childcare is less than mothers’, and intra-class divisions are notable. Not only lower-middle class fathers, but also cultural/balanced upper-middle class fathers spend the most time on intensive fathering. Economic upper-middle and working-class fathers spend the least time on childcare. This new insight into class patterns in parents’ childcare time challenges the widespread notion of different cultural childcare logics in the middle class, compared to the working class.

Dependents as Signals of Mate Value: Long-term Mating Strategy Predicts Displays on Online Dating Profiles for Men.

Sexual strategies theory indicates women prefer mates who show the ability and willingness to invest in a long-term mate due to asymmetries in obligate parental care of children. Consequently, women’s potential mates must show they can provide investment – especially when women are seeking a long-term mate. Investment may be exhibited through financial and social status, and the ability to care for a mate and any resulting offspring. Men who care for children and pets (hereafter “dependents”) are perceived as high-quality mates, given that dependents signal an ability to invest; however, no studies have examined how dependents are associated with short-term and long-term mating strategies. Here, online dating profiles were used to test the predictions that an interactive effect between sex and mating strategy will predict displays of dependents, with long-term mating strategy predicting for men but not women. Moreover, this pattern should hold for all dependent types and, due to relative asymmetries in required investment, differences will be strongest regarding displays of children and least in non-canine pets. As expected, men seeking long-term mates displayed dependents more than men seeking short-term mates, but both men and women seeking long-term mates displayed dependents similarly. This pattern was driven mostly by canines. These findings indicate that men adopting a long-term mating strategy display their investment capabilities more compared to those seeking short-term mates, which may be used to signal their mate value.

The Long and the Short of It: A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Parent–Child Care (PC–CARE) and Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

Research shows that parenting interventions struggle with keeping clients in treatment. The purpose of this study was to compare attrition and rates of improvement in caregiver-child dyads participating in either Parent–Child Care (PC–CARE), a brief, 7-session parenting intervention or Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) over a 7–week period. Participants were 204 caregiver-child dyads referred to either PC-CARE (N = 69) or PCIT (N = 135) between 2016 and 2019. Children were aged 2–7 years, referred for treatment by county Behavioral Health Services, and Medicaid funded. Findings showed that PC–CARE participants were 2.5 times more likely than PCIT participants to complete 7 sessions, all other things being equal, and showed significantly greater rates of improvement during this timeframe in reported child behavior problems and parenting stress. In conclusion, compared with PCIT, PC–CARE showed greater retention and rate of improvement in child and parent outcomes over a comparable time period.

육아와 조부모: 온라인 카페 게시글 토픽모델 분석

In this paper, we identified key terms and latent topics in posts on online forums, called “online cafés” in Korea. We analyzed 41,699 online posts that mentioned at least one of the 70 Korean terms related to “child care” as well as one of the 67 terms related to “grandparents”. The data were posted online between 2016 and 2019 on Naver and Daum, two leading portal sites in Korea. Using topic modeling with Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), we selected and named 16 topics, and then grouped them into four themes. The first theme was “grandparents and grandchildren,” which included four topics: grandparent-grandchild relationships (T1), the everyday lives of adult children and grandchildren (T2), the roles of parents and grandparents (T3), and grandparent’s leisure time (T4). The second theme was “care in early childhood” with four topics: birth order and number of children (T5), childbirth and postnatal care (T6), infant child care (T7), and attachment (T8). The third theme was “child care and support for parents” with four topics: work and child care (T9), day care and kindergarten (T10), parenting information (T11), and parenting education and counseling (T12). The last theme was “marriage and gender roles” with four topics: marital life (T13), “dok-bak-yuk-ah” (parenting solo) (T14), in-laws (T15), and divorce (T16). Our results highlight that online discussions about grandparents include a variety of topics in the context of child care, suggesting that grandparents are not only child care providers but are also actively involved in the everyday lives of their adult children and grandchildren.

American heterosexual emerging adults’ reasoning about the fairness of household labor

This study investigated American heterosexual emerging adults’ evaluations and reasoning about the fairness of their parents’ gendered division of household labor, their future expectations of their own division, and in a third-party situation. A total of 161 American heterosexual (88.20 % European American; 50.93 % cisgender women), emerging adults (M = 20.60, SD = 1.21) participated in this study. The majority of participants evaluated their parents’ and future expected division to be fair. On the other hand, participants were less likely to consider a hypothetical gendered division fair. Equality justification usage, as well as reported parental childcare division predicted differences in fairness evaluations. The present study highlights the importance of employing methods that can capture the complex and multi-faceted nature of fairness evaluations and reasoning about the gendered division of household labor.

Actualization of the Trilogy of Education Values in the Family: A Empiric Study of the Community of Banda Aceh City

Parents are the first and foremost educators for the formation of children's behavior, but actually there are acts of violence and deviant behavior of parents in educating children in Banda Aceh City, this is not in accordance with the values of the educational trilogy initiated by Ki Hajar Dewantara and educational goals. namely, among others, so that children have noble morals and the duties of parents who act as first and foremost educators for the formation of children's behavior. This study is to get a scientific answer to how the actualization of educational trilogy values is applied by parents in educating children in the city of Banda Aceh. The author uses secondary data, data from field research. The sampling technique for the object under study consisted of the parents of the father / mother who had children with the "Simple Random Sampling" technique (simple random sampling). Data collection techniques using literature study, questionnaires and observations. The data analysis technique used to answer the problem formulation and to test the hypothesis is to use a quantitative form of description through the Means test (Average). The results of the hypothesis study show that: 1) actually the values of the education trilogy (with means and categories), namely, parental exemplary (73.3, high), teaching to worship (33.01, high), parental care for children (28.44, high), the responsibility of parents to children (25.97, high), direction to kindness (29.64, moderate) have been implemented by parents in educating children; Therefore, the authors conclude that this study is a new approach to see actually the values of the educational trilogy that Ki Hajar Dewantara has applied by parents in educating children in families in Banda Aceh City.

Studi Komparasi Pemikiran Elly Risman dan Konsep Perkawinan Islam dalam Pola Ketahanan Keluarga untuk Mencegah Kenakalan Remaja

Family resilience consists of three things, namely physical, social, and psychological resilience. So, the application of this resilience pattern will lead to interactions between family members, so that happiness or family crises can emerge, such as juvenile delinquency. Thus the researcher is interested in comparing Elly Risman's thoughts and the concept of Islamic marriage. The focus of the studies examined in this article are: 1) What is the Pattern of Family Resilience to Prevent Juvenile Delinquency According to Elly Risman? 2) What is the pattern of family resilience to prevent juvenile delinquency according to the concept of an Islamic marriage? 3) How is the comparison between Elly Risman's thoughts and the concept of Islamic marriage in the pattern of family resilience to prevent juvenile delinquency? In this study, the authors took normative legal research. Based on the results and conclusions of research conducted by researchers, among others: 1) the concept of family resilience according to Elly Risman includes tips for being able to adapt and survive, factors of weakening family resilience, the impact of weakening family resilience, and efforts to maintain the family. 2) the concept of family resilience according to Islamic marriage includes the urgency of having a family, family goals, family wisdom, rights and obligations of family members, factors needed in family resilience as well as managing conflict and building family resilience. 3) The comparison of Elly Risman's thoughts and the concept of Islamic marriage in family resilience includes, Elly Risman's view on family resilience puts forward feelings that have an impact on psychology and family resilience that will have an impact on children's growth. Elly Risman also revealed the important role of parents in childcare. Whereas in the concept of Islamic marriage, it includes considering the purpose of having a family, prioritizing the rights and obligations of family members, and paying attention to equality.

Class Inequality in Parental Childcare Time: Evidence from Synthetic Couples in the ATUS.

The time that parents spend teaching and playing with their young children has important consequences for later life achievement and attainment. Previous research suggests that there are significant class inequalities in how much time parents devote to this kind of developmental childcare in the United States. Yet, due in part to data limitations, prior research has not accounted for how class inequalities in family structure, assortative mating, and specialization between partners may exacerbate or ameliorate these gaps. We match parental respondents within the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) to generate synthetic parental dyads, which we use to estimate, in turn, the contributions of family structure, assortative mating, and specialization to class gaps in parental time spent in developmental care of children aged 0-6. We find some evidence that accounting for class differences in family structure widens income gaps in total parental time in developmental childcare of young children. Further, we show that assortative mating of parents widens educational gaps in developmental childcare, whereas specialization between partners marginally widens these class divides. Although the net effect of these three processes on income-based gaps in childcare time is modest, accounting for these three processes more than doubles education-based gaps in total parental developmental childcare as compared to maternal time alone. Our findings from this novel empirical approach provide a more holistic view of the extent and sources of inequality in parental time investments in young children's cognitive and social development.