Child Care Providers Research Articles

“The Source of All My Joy and All My Stress”: Children and Childcare as Underappreciated Sources of Stress That Affect Farm Women

ABSTRACT Objective Women have always played a crucial role in agriculture through their work on the farm, caring for the family and the household, and off-farm employment. Yet, like their essential contributions to agriculture, their mental health and well-being have largely been invisible since much of the focus of the mental health in agriculture research has been on older, male farmers. This paper seeks to address this knowledge gap by focusing on the emotional consequences stemming from the expectations of juggling childcare responsibilities, farm work and managing the household whilst keeping children safe. Methods The data were collected via focus groups and photovoice activity with, respectively, 68 and 33 farm women from Ohio, Wisconsin, and Vermont. Results The content thematic analysis first indicates that the juggling of multiple roles along with limited support deeply impacted farm women’s wellbeing. Worries that the children could get hurt was a major source of stress. Stress and mental health issues connected to children do not lessen as they age but rather shift and become more complex. Conclusion This article highlights the implications of the lack of investment in farm women’s mental wellbeing and their lived realities of caring for children on the farm. Future research should address supply chain and affordability issues, particularly for rural childcare provision.

Preschool education and infant health of the next generation: evidence from an expansion of public child care provision

Preschool education and infant health of the next generation: evidence from an expansion of public child care provision

Access to affordable daycare and women's mental health in Rajasthan, India: Evidence from a cluster-randomised social intervention.

Women in India are often responsible for unpaid household work, family caregiving, and paid work, which can contribute to poorer mental health. The provision of childcare has the potential to improve women's mental health, but evidence on the effects of providing access to daycare is limited. We designed a cluster-randomised trial and used data from a sample of 2858 mothers with age-eligible children from 160 village hamlets in rural Rajasthan, India, to evaluate the impact of providing access to a community-based daycare programme on social and emotional aspects of women's mental health. We conducted a baseline survey in early 2016, randomised hamlets to intervention or control groups approximately six months later, and delivered the final post-intervention survey approximately two years thereafter. Treatment assignment increased the probability that a respondent used a daycare over the two-year follow-up by 40.9 percentage points. Providing randomised access to a daycare resulted in 0.2 (95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.1, 0.4) fewer symptoms of mental distress, representing a 9.5% decline compared to the baseline mean of 2.1 symptoms, as well as a 3.7 (95% CI = -0.8, 8.3) percentage point increase in the proportion of women who reported feeling very happy, equivalent to an 11.0% increase relative to the baseline mean of 33.6%. Among social indicators, treatment assignment was associated with a 5.6 (95% CI = -1.2, 12.4) percentage point increase in membership in an association, a relative increase of 43.4% compared to the baseline mean of 12.9%. The intervention did not have an appreciable impact on measures of life satisfaction or trust in institutions. Two-stage least squares instrumental variable analyses showed that daycare use decreased mental distress by 0.4 (95% CI = -0.1, 0.8) symptoms, increased the proportion of women who were very happy by 9.4 (95% CI = 0.0, 17.6) percentage points, and increased membership in an organisation by 15.9 (95% CI = 8.4, 23.7) percentage points. The provision of affordable, community-based daycare was associated with substantial uptake and showed potential for improving mothers' mental health in a rural context where most women were not employed in the formal labour force. ISRCTN clinical trial registry (ISRCTN45369145), registered on 16 May 2016; American Economic Association's registry for randomised controlled trials (AEARCTR-0000774), registered on 15 July 2015.

Growing up with Congenital Heart Disease: A Qualitative Research Study of Parents’ and Clinicians’ Experiences and Perspectives

BackgroundFamilies of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) may experience a range of challenges, such as interactions with the medical system, parental stress, and the child’s physical activity (PA) participation. The aim of this study is to explore how those with CHD and their families experience childhood based on parents’ and clinicians’ experiences and perspectives. The ultimate goal is to identify lacking supports (if any), and when children and their parents may be most amendable to receive them. MethodsWe recruited parents/guardians of children with CHD, and clinicians involved in care provision for children with CHD. Participants completed life story interviews, with key events from parent/guardian interviews mapped to a timeline. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. ResultsTwelve parents of 11 children with CHD with diagnoses spanning from mild to complex, and 12 clinicians (42% pediatric cardiologists, 33% nurses, 25% other) were interviewed. Three themes were identified: 1) Overwhelmed – The Relationship Between Parents and the Healthcare System, 2) Trauma and Resilience - The Emotional Side to Raising a Child with CHD, and 3) P More Than Just Fun. Sub-themes explored challenges of education, communication, and living away from the hospital, traumatic experiences, the need for parental support, different approaches to PA counseling, providing role models, barriers to successful PA promotion, and tools for improvement. ConclusionsThis study highlights the need for changes to how and when information is communicated to families of children with CHD, and an increase in the number and types of support mechanisms available.

Othermothering: A Black Feminist History of Communal Early Childhood Education in America

Historically, Black women, as care providers, educators, activists, and othermothers, have taken a stand within their homes, communities, and the nation’s classrooms to ensure the survival and empowerment of the Black community on every front. Through the lens of Black feminist thought and the power of counternarratives, this literature review delineates a historical and socio-political exploration of how Black women educators and childcare providers have positioned themselves as othermothers—nurturing and advancing the children of the Black community while navigating various systems of oppression and social stressors. In discussion, the author calls for a critical shift towards the recognition of marginalized histories, perspectives, and intellectual contributions of Black women early educators.

Childcare Provision in Neoliberal Times: The Marketization of Care

Childcare Provision in Neoliberal Times: The Marketization of Care

How policies created without early childhood educator input create toxic working environments that objectify educators

Through the lens of objectification and toxic workplace theory, this article critically examines Ontario, Canada's policies and regulations on early childhood education and care (ECEC). In the context of Canada's transition to universal child care and the persistent workforce crisis in the ECEC sector, this article highlights how registered early childhood educators (RECE) workplace challenges, including poor working conditions, low wages, and a lack of professional recognition, are theorized within objectification and toxic workplace theory. Specifically, the Child Care and Early Years Act (CCEYA) and the Ontario Early Year Framework, which establish the standards and regulations for licensed childcare providers, are analyzed to determine how they objectify RECEs and create toxic workplaces. Grounded in advocacy to improve working conditions in ECEC, this article provides a unique framework for understanding and interrupting how RECEs are not considered in creating government regulations, how individual centers and organizations can interpret the current rules to continue to devalue the contributions of RECEs to the sector, and how and why this continuation of devaluation is affecting the well-being and working conditions of RECEs.

Are the grandparents alright? The health consequences of grandparental childcare provision

This paper examines the causal effect of childcare provision on grandparents’ health in the United States. We use the sex ratio among older adults’ children as an instrument for grandparental childcare provision. Our instrument exploits that parents of daughters transition to grandparenthood earlier and invest more in their grandchildren than parents of sons. We estimate 2SLS regressions using data from the Health and Retirement Study. The results suggest that providing childcare is detrimental to grandparents’ physical functioning and subjective health. We show that these effects increase with the intensity of grandchild care provision, and the effects are driven primarily by grandmothers.

Co-resident grandparent and maternal employment. A Northern Ireland cross-sectional administrative data analysis

The trade-off between the costs of childcare provision and the benefits of having an increased proportion of women, particularly women with dependent children, in employment is one of the most taxing social issues for Western governments. In countries like Northern Ireland, the limited subsidised childcare provision for preschool and primary school children has been partially offset by a rise in informal childcare though this has been considerably hard to assess both in terms of magnitude and effect. Using the entire 2011 Census cohort of mothers with children aged 1 to 16 years of age, we argue that co-resident grandparents have a substantial positive impact on maternal labour force participation in Northern Ireland. The presence of a co-resident grandparent was associated with an increase of 3.7 percentage points in employment for single-parent mothers and 2 percentage points for mothers in two-parent households. Mothers with co-resident grandparents report an increase of 2.7 percentage points for a single mother and of 3.7 percentage points for a mother in a two-parent household being in full-time employment than mothers without. Overall, the presence of a co-resident grandparent was associated with at least a 3.2 percentage point increase in labour force participation among mothers with primary-school-age children.

A Statewide Program to Test and Reduce Lead in Drinking Water at Schools and Child Cares.

A lead testing act was passed in Colorado mandating that all licensed child care facilities and public schools serving fifth grade and lower test all drinking water locations for lead by May 31, 2023. Colorado's Water Quality Control Division created the Test & Fix Water for Kids program to implement this act. Aspects of the program included establishing a database, outreach and education, technical assistance, lead analyses at the Colorado State Laboratory, remediation, and reimbursement. Of a total of 6000 licensed child care providers and public elementary schools, 4500 entities enrolled and tested 53 000 water samples for lead at drinking water fixtures. Testing results showed that 93% (46 000 total) of the fixtures tested were below the 5 parts per billion (ppb) action level. As a result, 7% (3700) of the fixtures tested were above the action level. Of the fixtures that tested above 5 ppb, 47% were classroom faucets. Many of these faucets had not been used since COVID-19 when several schools switched to using bottle fillers. The program identified all fixtures associated with low usage as well as older fixtures to be replaced with lead-free options to reduce lead levels below 5 ppb. Almost 600 000 children have been protected from potential exposure to lead in drinking water through this program. This article outlines the methods of launching a statewide lead testing program and the importance of testing fixtures for lead in drinking water in early childhood education buildings.

Have later state pensions made people less connected? The effects of older female pension ages in England on social capital

Abstract Many countries have increased their state pension ages (SPAs) to offset demographic ageing and to increase numbers of older people remaining in paid work. Most research attention has focused on the economic outcomes whereas little attention has been paid to impacts on social capital, including rates of volunteering and care-giving. Prior research suggests that these are sensitive to retirement decisions. Using nine waves of individual longitudinal data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, this study examines the effects of increased SPA on volunteering, group membership and providing care. Our results show that higher SPAs have a negative impact on rates of volunteering and providing care, particularly for women in couples. Single women are not affected, and there are not significant effects on group membership and childcare provision. The more work-like aspects of social capital are affected by the increased SPA.

Data Integration to Support Child Care Business Sustainability: Iowa’s Child Care Connect

Working parents need access to childcare, and the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic highlighted critical gaps in data system capacities to meet this need. This was particularly acute in the US where many child care providers closed their doors permanently because they could not sustain their business. The state of Iowa estimates losses over $930 million per year to businesses and individuals due to a lack of childcare. Childcare businesses are not sustainable if they cannot fill slots and be consistently paid for care – and families need to be able to find care when they need it to fill those slots. Iowa is addressing this gap by developing a real-time, integrated data solution that includes historically disparate data systems to better identify childcare supply and demand. Through intensive community engagement processes including leadership from state agencies, the development team created a system that includes multiple technology solutions for real-time data sharing; a secure cloud-based system for storage, integration, and analysis; and two public-facing applications that allow data to be aggregated and shared for strategic decision-making as well as used by families to identify available care when and where they need it. This presentation will discuss challenges in cross-sector data linkage with a focus on child care providers, families, and population demand. It will include an overview of the development process, governance structure, and analytic uses of the system. Highlights include identification of real-time vacancies by age group, geography, quality rating, and in relation to estimated potential demand using additional integrated data resources.

COVID-19 School Closures Were Associated With A Decline In Employment For Female Nurses With Young Children.

COVID-19-related school closures may have had unintended consequences affecting the ability of health professionals with school-age children to work-particularly female professionals, who often have disproportionate child care responsibilities. We combined labor-force participation data from the Current Population Survey with measures of school closures based on cell phone mobility data to examine the association between local school closures and labor supply among female nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the six months after large-scale closure of schools at the end of the 2019-20 school year (March-August2020), among counties with above-median school closure rates, the employment rate of female nurses with young children declined by 12.5percentage points versus the rate during the prior four months (November2019-February2020); the change in the employment rate in below-median counties was not statistically significant. No statistically significant changes were observed among female nurses who had only older children or among male nurses. During public health emergencies, policies should consider how disruptions to schooling may affect the labor supply of health care professionals. Strategies might include direct provision of child care by health care facilities, subsidies and other aid to child care centers, or subsidies to health care workers for affordable child care.

Evaluation of the WHO standards to assess quality of care for children with acute respiratory infections: findings of a baseline multicentre assessment (CHOICE) in Italy

BackgroundExperience is lacking on the implementation of the WHO standards for improving the quality of care (QOC) for children at facility level. We describe the use of 10 prioritised WHO...

Implementation of the WHO standards to assess quality of care for children with acute pain in EDs: findings of a multicentre study (CHOICE) in Italy

BackgroundThere is little experience on the use of the WHO Standards for improving the quality of care (QOC) for children. We describe the use of four prioritised WHO Standard-based Quality...

Does increased local female representation result in expanded childcare provisions? Implications from Japan

Abstract Does increased female representation in local politics and administration translate into increased childcare provisions? This question is important for examining subnational variations in welfare regimes and the degree of defamilization. Previous studies have shown that female representatives are interested in ‘women’s issues’ and influence the introduction and accessibility of policies that benefit women. However, there are significant research gaps. First, the analytical units are biased towards the national level. Second, few studies have simultaneously examined political and administrative representation. Third, the impact of sexism on gender representation remains overlooked. To address these gaps, this study focused on Japan, where female representation has increased in recent years and where society is moving away from sexist values. Specifically, this study investigated the effects of local female representation in politics and administration, particularly in municipalities where there is an increased demand for childcare services. A unique municipality-level dataset was created and a multilevel analysis was conducted. Surprisingly, the results did not provide significant evidence that increased local female representation correlates with increased local childcare provisions. While caution is warranted given that the sexism variable is prefecture-based, the results underscore the impact of sexism and female representation on the increase in childcare supply.

European paediatricians need to be more aware of the risks faced by children who swallow button batteries and how to treat them.

The aim of this study was to assess how aware European paediatricians were of the risks faced by children who swallowed button batteries and the advice for managing such cases. An Internet-based survey was conducted among European paediatricians between 1 April 2023 and 31 May 2023. The researchers contacted members of the European Academy of Paediatrics Research in Ambulatory Setting Network and a number of European national paediatric societies. Responses were received from 605 paediatricians (66.0% females) in 41 countries and 64.5% had encountered cases of button battery ingestion. Only 31.2% had received specific training and only 35.7% were familiar with the advice issued by the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the European Academy of Pediatrics. While 90.8% of respondents correctly recognised the need for hospitalisation of a child after button battery ingestion, only 30.1% of them identified all symptoms and 58.2% could accurately determine the appropriate diagnostic scope. One in ten underestimated the health or life risks. These deficiencies were significantly attributed to a lack of adequate training (p < 0.01). The overwhelming majority of the respondents expressed the need to increase awareness among physicians and childcare providers, mainly through social media campaigns and advertisements. European paediatricians were insufficiently aware of button battery ingestion risks and management, with significant gaps in training and familiarity with advice. Respective education for medical practitioners and raising public awareness should be markedly strengthened.

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS OF HOME-BASED CHILDCARE CENTRES IN MALAYSIA; ARE CHILDCARE PROVIDERS AWARE?

Home-based childcare (HBCC) services are among the childcare services available in Malaysia, as ensconsced in the Child Care Centre Act 1984. In Malaysia, HBCC providers are only allowed to care for a minimum of four and a maximum of 10 children. However, this definition does not include small home-based childcare services or childminders who care for less than four children. Employing the qualitative method of content analysis, this study discusses the laws and regulations governing HBCC in Malaysia, particularly the legal requirements that need to be fulfilled. This is further supported by interviews conducted with childcare providers who look after children at their home to examine their level of understanding of the legal requirements under Malaysian childcare laws and regulations. Findings indicate, among others, that the HBCC operators are unaware of the need to register with the Social Welfare Department. The adherence to the legal requirements for this HBCC should not be taken lightly, as it is crucial to ensure the safety and well-being of children. Consequently, greater efforts are required to ensure the children's health and safety because the current procedures rely solely on the experience and expertise of the childcare providers. This paper contributes to the extent of knowledge of HBCC in Malaysia especially towards policy makers, child care operators and parents by exploring the experiences of HBCC childcare providers. It is proposed that continuous improvements need to be made to the laws and regulations on HBCC in ensuring high quality services of HBCC.

State childcare provision in China: Subnational variations and localized policy contexts across 31 mainland provinces

AbstractThe social organization of childcare is of special relevance to gender equality and family wellbeing. Childcare provision in China is often recognized as a case of familism, which highly relies on family care with limited state support. However, this all‐encompassing view may mask the local discrepancy generated by a decentralized social welfare system, especially when emerging initiatives have been enacted due to the government's concern about fertility. This article analyses the variation of childcare policies across 31 China mainland provinces, from the perspective of welfare regime theory. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, six policy patterns with varying configurations of familizing and defamilizing support are identified: (1) dual‐earner support, (2) moderate dual‐earner support, (3) moderate support, (4) general family support, (5) modified family support, and (6) a geo‐special case. We further explore the socioeconomic contexts of various policy profiles, with a particular focus on fertility and female employment. Findings suggest that, although with a nationally shared welfare ideology, subnational governments could exploit divergent strategies to support childcare in response to localized socioeconomic conditions. This research also provides insights into how childcare responsibilities are distributed between state and family in a non‐western country.

Accessibility of the early care and education supply: Variation within the center-based provider sector

Center-based early care and education (ECE) is important for promoting positive early development and supporting families by providing child care so parents can work. However, the center-based supply varies substantially in terms of funding sources, indicators of quality, and services offered; and many families experience a lack of equitable access to providers that meet their needs. Using a nationally representative sample of the center-based supply from the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education, this study examined patterns in the services center-based providers offer that may facilitate or pose barriers to families’ access from a multidimensional lens. Two research questions were investigated using latent class analysis: First, are there patterns of provider accessibility within the center-based supply, and second, are there covariates (i.e., funding, community poverty/ urban density, geographic region) that explain patterns of ECE access? Center-based features selected as indicators were informed by a definition of access comprised of multiple dimensions: availability, affordability, supports children’s development, and meets parent’s needs. Class enumeration suggested that a three-class model provided the best fit, indicating three patterns of program accessibility: providers that were: flexible at cost (25.9%), free but inflexible (29.2%), and somewhat accessible (44.9%). Additional covariate analyses revealed providers were significantly more or less likely to be classified into the latent classes of access according to community and funding characteristics. Notably, programs receiving Head Start and public preschool funding and those in communities with high poverty and urban density were more likely to be assigned to the free but inflexible class. A key component driving ECE utilization is the accessibility of providers, and these findings inform recommendations for future research and policy to better serve the needs of families with young children.