Use Of Child Care Services Research Articles

Health literacy and health-related outcomes among preschool educators: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract Background Given the increasing use of childcare services and the shortage of skilled workers, preschool educators are under particular pressure. Health literacy has previously been shown to be an asset for stress and well-being in school principals. Within the organizational health literacy in preschools project, the Health-Literate Preschools Survey aims to assess educators’ health literacy levels and investigate differences in health-related outcomes based on these levels. Methods Preschool educators from a Bavarian county participated in a cross-sectional online survey in February 2024. Sociodemographic information, health literacy, and health-related outcomes (well-being, exhaustion, psychosomatic complaints) were assessed using established self-report tools. Descriptive statistics and variance analyses were carried out using SPSS. Results The sample consists of N = 114 preschool educators from a Bavarian region (94.6% female, Ø 41.5 years). Of the educators, 23.7% showed adequate, 50.0% problematic, and 26.3% inadequate health literacy levels. Kruskal-Wallis H analyses indicated statistically significant differences in well-being (H(2, n = 113) = 14.200, p < 0.001), exhaustion (H(2, n = 114) = 6.098, p = 0.047), and psychosomatic complaints (H(2, n = 114) = 8.910, p = 0.012) across health literacy levels. Conclusions The survey provides first-time insights into preschool educators’ health literacy and health-related outcomes in Germany. Only one-quarter of preschool educators demonstrated adequate health literacy levels. Further, the findings confirm the link between health literacy and well-being and stress already shown for other samples. Health promotion initiatives for preschool staff should focus on strengthening educators’ health literacy, especially given their role model function for children. Key messages • This survey is the first assessment of health literacy among preschool educators, which is an important target group given their role model for young children. • Preschool educators demonstrated overall low levels of health literacy, which is associated with well-being, exhaustion, and psychosomatic complaints.

Effect of Universal Credit on young children’s mental health: quasi-experimental evidence from understanding society

BackgroundChild mental health has become an increasingly important issue in the UK, especially in the context of significant welfare reforms. Universal Credit (UC) has introduced substantial changes to the UK’s...

Childcare in Italy among migrants and natives: who uses which type and why?

The Italian welfare state is characterised by a preference for income transfers over transfers in kind and the marginal role of policies aimed directly at supporting the family. Despite the growing participation of women in the labour market, the Italian welfare system still assumes the family, with its unbalanced gender division of housework and its intergenerational solidarity, to be the primary provider of protection and support. As a result, in Italy in 2019 only 26.9% of children under 3 years of age were enrolled in formal childcare, which is below the European average. In this context, births from at least one foreign parent had increased over time, and foreign national children accounted for 14.0% of all children aged 0–3 in 2019. Despite this, migrants are still seen as ‘suppliers’ rather than citizens who, as parents, are potential consumers of childcare services. Aspects related to the use of childcare by migrants and differences compared to natives in Italy are currently understudied. We use the 2012 Birth Sample Survey by the Italian National Institute of Statistics to fill this gap. Mothers were interviewed about 18–21 months after having given birth: information on sociodemographic characteristics of both parents was collected, including their use of childcare services, their reasons for not using them, their unmet need for childcare services, and the lack of access to the job market due to care work. Our study aims to understand childcare patterns among migrants and the differences between them and those of the native-born population. We found that Italian mothers use informal care more than migrants. Unlike the evidence from other international studies, our results show that migrant mothers use daycare for children aged 0–3 more than native-born mothers. However, we found that the migrants who had arrived as children show patterns more similar to natives. This finding might be associated with a better knowledge of the system and a more extensive network (including grandparents) in Italy. Similarly, we found that migrant mothers who co-parent with an Italian father use more informal care and experience lower logistical barriers to accessing daycare. In addition, we observed that obstacles to children’s enrolment resulting in an unmet need for daycare are also related to migrant background.

Association between gender role attitudes and social support from mothers and paternal involvement in childcare

Objective Paternal involvement in child-rearing is an action goal of Healthy Parents and Children 21 (Tier 2), and should be actively promoted. Clarifying the related factors may contribute to countermeasures for promoting paternal involvement in child-rearing. This study aimed to examine the association between fathers' gender role attitudes and social support from their spouses (i.e., the mothers of the children) and their involvement in child-rearing.Methods We obtained the data of fathers involved in childcare (aged 25-50 years; all full-time workers) through an internet research company. The paternal involvement in childcare scale (11 items, 4-point scale, e.g., "taking care of children," "cooking") was used as the dependent variable. The independent variables were gender role attitude ("Husbands should work outside the home and wives should take care of the home," 4-point scale) and social support from the mothers of the children (including appraisal, emotional, and instrumental support). The control variables were father's age, mother's employment status, number of children, the age of the youngest child, children going to nursery school or kindergarten, use of childcare services, self-evaluation of low economic status, work hours on weekdays, and marital relationship satisfaction.Results The data of 360 men were analyzed (mean age 36.8 years, standard deviation 5.6). The results of the multivariable regression analyses with interaction terms are as follows: gender role attitude was significantly associated with childcare (β=-0.103) and housework (β=-0.125); appraisal support was significantly associated with childcare (β=0.142) and housework (β=0.199); and the interaction between gender role attitude and instrumental support was significant (β=0.176), indicating that, in individuals with a high gender role attitude score, a higher level of instrumental support was related to a higher childcare score (β=0.242).Conclusions Fathers with egalitarian gender role attitudes and those who receive appraisal support from the other parent are more likely to participate in childcare. In addition, fathers with traditional gender role attitudes who receive instrumental support from the other parent may tend to participate in childcare.

Policy(s) of Reconciliation of Family and Professional Obligations in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The paper analyzes the policy(s) of harmonizing family and professional obligations in the context of the legal regulations of both domestic and international documents that are applied in B&H. The subject of the research is based on the analysis of family policy measures that are directly aimed at harmonizing family and professional obligations in B&H, by reviewing the existing policies and practices of social and labor legislation at the level of three administrative units: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Srpska and The Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As part of the research, current measures and activities that are regulated by laws in B&H, such as maternity/parental leave (time), maternity benefits (money), and childcare services (services of preschool institutions) were analyzed as important factors when harmonizing family and professional obligations. The policies of harmonizing family and professional obligations in B&H are harmonized with EU standards, but they are not sufficiently developed, which means that parents must make additional efforts to meet the demands of the workplace and the family. To achieve a balance between the demands of the labor market, the level of monetary benefits and the length of payment, the possibility of taking leave and the use of childcare services, taking into account the circumstances first in the economic sense, it is necessary to work on improving the measures in this area, respecting and the choice of the parents themselves.

Factors associated with cognitive failure among mothers involved in child care

Mothers involved in child care may be prone to various cognitive failures (e.g., leaving things behind) as a result of being overburdened with maternal duties, with limited attentional capacity for responding to children’s frequent demands. Therefore, this study aimed to explore factors associated with cognitive failure among mothers involved in child care in Japan. The participants were 310 mothers aged 25–45 (155 full-time workers, 155 housewives). The self-reported questionnaire covered cognitive failure (outcome variable), basic demographic characteristics, sociological factors, health status, and personality. Cognitive failure was assessed using the 15-item Japanese version of the Short Inventory of Minor Lapses. The variables evaluated for potential associations with cognitive failure included mother’s age, youngest child’s age, number of children, employment status, daily sleep duration, time spent on leisure activities, fatigue, social support (instrumental and emotional), use of child care services, and the Big Five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness). Multiple regression analysis showed that number of children, fatigue, emotional support, neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were independently and significantly associated with cognitive failure. Our results may help facilitate the development of effective strategies to prevent adverse effects on children’s and parents’ health by preventing cognitive failure among mothers.

Dietary patterns of Australian children at three and five years of age and their changes over time: A latent class and latent transition analysis

Consuming a healthy diet characterised by a variety of nutritious foods is essential for promoting and maintaining health and wellbeing, yet the diets of Australian children continue to fall well short of national healthy eating recommendations. This research endeavours to identify patterns of dietary intake in Australian children at three and five years of age and investigate associations between early childhood dietary patterns and socio-economic and demographic indicators and Body Mass Index (BMI), as well as identify changes in children's dietary patterns over time. Cross-sectional dietary patterns were derived for 1565 and 631 children aged three and five years, respectively using Latent Class Analysis (LCA), with changes over time analysed with Latent Transition Analysis (LTA). Demographic variables of interest included child sex, parental age, family status, and use of childcare services and socio-economic variables included education, income and employment status. Three patterns of dietary intake were identified at three years (Highly Unhealthy, Healthier and Moderately Unhealthy) and two patterns at five years (Unhealthy and Healthier). Children with younger mothers, working mothers, fathers with a higher BMI and living in a two-carer household were more likely to have unhealthy eating patterns at three years, and children with working mothers and living in a two-carer household were more likely to have unhealthy patterns of dietary intake at five years. Approximately one eighth of the sample transitioned from the healthier to unhealthy pattern of dietary intake from three to five years. The quality of Australian children's diets appears to be declining through the early childhood years, continuing to highlight the importance of nutrition policies and interventions targeted towards the early years of life.

Local childcare policy and the changing gender contract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the changes in local childcare policy that have taken place between the years 2008 and 2016 in the city of Jyväskylä, Finland, and to study how the local gender contract for women is being reshaped via these transformations in local policy.Design/methodology/approachCase study was applied as a research strategy. Local and national level statistics were used to explore the use of childcare services. Documents regarding the decision-making and administration of childcare in the city were analysed to distinguish the local policy changes during the time period. These documents include city budgets and records from the two municipal boards that have held the administrative responsibility of local childcare policy. The analysis of the data was conducted by using document analysis and feminist content analysis as a methodological framework.FindingsThe results show that the overall development in local childcare policy has been towards cutbacks in childcare services and benefits, and towards the marketisation of childcare services. The city has also implemented new, locally specific childcare policies, which constitute a hybrid form of marketisation and neofamilism. Together these developments are creating a new local gender contract, which goes beyond the past previous traditional or modern models. This new local gender contract for women is defined as that of “entrepreneurial homemaker”.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the research on local social policy by identifying the role of local childcare policy in reshaping the gender contract in a Nordic context. This paper advances the theorisation of the concept of gender contract by introducing the “entrepreneurial homemaker” model of gender contract.

Factors associated with employment of mothers caring for children with intellectual disabilities

ObjectivesThis study investigated employment, financial, and health issues of Japanese mothers with school-aged children with disabilities, and factors associated with participants’ employment.MethodsA survey was conducted with 243 Japanese mothers with children aged 6 to 18 years old enrolled in a Special Education Needs School for intellectually disabled children. The mothers’ employment, income, health, and time spent caregiving were compared with those of other Japanese mothers using population data. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with the mothers’ employment status.ResultsParticipants showed a lower employment rate (49%) compared with the average rate (71%) among Japanese mothers with children aged between 6 and 18 years old who lived in the same region. Over half (57%) of unemployed mothers expressed a desire to work. About 62% of mothers belonged to a lower income group, compared to 33% of Japanese families rearing children. The mothers’ single-parent status, good health, college-level education, use of childcare services, and children’s age were positively associated with paid employment. In particular, mothers’ good health was strongly associated with their paid employment.ConclusionMothers caring for children with disabilities showed lower workforce participation and lower income than other Japanese mothers. The majority of unemployed mothers showed a desire for paid employment. Further maternal health care and social support are needed to support these mothers’ workforce participation.

Determinants of patterns of maternal and child health service utilization in a rural community in south eastern Nigeria

BackgroundWomen and children constitute a large proportion of any population. They are the most vulnerable to morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. In many situations the problem of poor maternal and child health stems from the poor use of available services even when they are not of optimum quality. This study seeks to describe the patterns of utilization of Maternal and Child health (MCH) services in a rural area of Enugu State, and identify factors that are associated with and responsible for determining them.MethodsThe study used a cross sectional analytic design. Pretested semi structured questionnaires were administered by interviewers to 602 women from a rural community in Enugu state, South east Nigeria. Two focus group discussions (FGDs) involving 8–10 men/ women each were conducted to identify factors affecting service utilization. Chi square analysis was done to identify factors associated with Maternal and Child Health services utilization. Logistic regression was used to identify determinants of utilization patterns. N vivo software was used to analyze findings of the FGDs.ResultsThe study revealed that increasing age, educational level, monthly income, number of children and occupation of both women and their husbands were associated with increased MCH service utilization. Average monthly income (OR: 1.317, p = 0.048, CI: 0.073–0.986) and number of children (OR: 1.196, p < 0.01,CI: 1.563–7.000) were determinants of increased use of child care services while educational level (OR: 0.495, p < 0.001, CI: 1.244–2.164) and age (OR: 0.115, p < 0.001, CI: 0.838–0.948) determined better use of delivery and family planning services respectively.ConclusionsImproved use of MCH services is related to socio economic challenges women face such as illiteracy and low income. Furthermore, the way health facilities and their staff are perceived by rural women affect how they use some of these services and should be considered in programs which seek to reduce maternal and child mortality.Behavioral change programs with high local content need to be implemented within rural areas especially among younger, illiterate women .

Density of day cares in relation to reported pertussis incidence in Philadelphia

ObjectivesReported pertussis incidence has increased markedly in recent years. In addition to the documented increase in under-immunization and waning immunity, the increase may be related to the more frequent use of child care services by parents over the last few decades. Additionally, clustering of outbreaks may be related to neighborhood characteristics not previously identified. Study DesignWe conducted a citywide case–control study of children in Philadelphia aged birth through six years, between 2001 and 2013. Cases were reported as probable pertussis diagnoses to the Health Department. Controls were sampled from the city's immunization information system and matched to the cases by date of birth. MethodsMultilevel logistic regression was used to isolate the independent contributions of individual and neighborhood risk factors and the corresponding relative odds of pertussis. The density of day cares in each neighborhood served as the main exposure and reported incident cases of confirmed and probable pertussis was the main outcome. ResultsBetween 2001 and 2013, 410 cases of confirmed and probable pertussis were included with four controls matched per case yielding a final sample of 2050 children from 45 Philadelphia neighborhoods. There was a 30% increase in the risk of pertussis based solely on the neighborhood where the children resided (median odds ratio 1.3, 95% credible interval 1.1, 1.6). The density of day cares in each neighborhood was unrelated to the distribution of pertussis cases. ConclusionsPertussis clustering was observed at the neighborhood level in Philadelphia, but was unrelated to the neighborhood's day care density. From a Health Department perspective, the highest risk neighborhoods should be targeted for vaccine campaigns and further research to identify the etiologic risk factors.

Explaining patterns of inequality in childcare service use across 31 developed economies: A welfare state perspective

Childcare services are increasingly regarded a major policy lever to combat social inequalities in early life. Yet, it was shown that inequality in the use of childcare services is the norm rather than the exception in European and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. As a result, social inequalities between disadvantaged and advantaged children are likely to be reinforced instead of being narrowed. The aim of this article is to conduct a macro-level analysis exploring which welfare state characteristics are associated with inequality in childcare use. We find that government involvement in the availability, affordability and quality of service provision is related to lower levels of inequality in childcare use. The results also suggest an impact of labour market opportunities and parental leave schemes. The findings contribute to a proper understanding of the institutional mechanisms underlying inequality in childcare service use.

Early Nonparental Care and Social Behavior in Elementary School: Support for a Social Group Adaptation Hypothesis

This study examined the contribution of nonparental child-care services received during the preschool years to the development of social behavior between kindergarten and the end of elementary school with a birth cohort from Québec, Canada (N = 1,544). Mothers reported on the use of child-care services, while elementary school teachers rated children's shyness, social withdrawal, prosociality, opposition, and aggression. Children who received nonparental child-care services were less shy, less socially withdrawn, more oppositional, and more aggressive at school entry (age 6 years). However, these differences disappeared during elementary school as children who received exclusive parental care caught up with those who received nonparental care services. This "catch-up" effect from the perspective of children's adaptation to the social group is discussed.

Quality of Statistical Match and Employment Simulations Used in the Estimation of the Levy Institute Measure of Time and Income Poverty (LIMTIP) for South Korea, 2009

The quality of match of the statistical match used in the LIMTIP estimates for South Korea in 2009 is described. The match combines the 2009 Korean Time Use Survey (KTUS 2009) with the 2009 Korean Welfare Panel Study (KWPS 2009). The alignment of the two datasets is examined, after which various aspects of the match quality are described. The match is of high quality, given the nature of the source datasets. The method used to simulate employment response to availability of jobs in the situation in which child-care subsidies are available is described. Comparisons of the donor and recipient groups for each of three stages of hot-deck statistical matching are presented. The resulting distribution of jobs, earnings, usual hours of paid employment, household production hours, and use of child-care services are compared to the distribution in the donor pools. The results do not appear to be anomalous, which is the best that can be said of the results of such a procedure.

Kinderopvang

Childcare services Childcare services In 2011 43% of households with working parents and children under the age of thirteen used formal childcare services. The average use was 20 hours per week. The number of households using childcare services strongly increased between 2005 and 2011. The use of childcare services is highest in households with children under the age of four. In addition, the use is higher among higher educated parents and parents living in strongly urbanized municipalities than among lower educated parents and those living in hardly/not urbanized municipalities. About one in ten mothers states that problems with childcare services – the costs, the availability or the quality – form the reason for not working or not working more hours. This especially applies when the youngest child is under four years old and for lower educated mothers.

Regional Characteristics of Provision and Use of Child-care Services in Urasoe City, Okinawa

Regional Characteristics of Provision and Use of Child-care Services in Urasoe City, Okinawa

Does Child Care Pay? Labor Force Participation and Earnings: Effects on Access to Child Care in the Favelas of Rio De Janeiro

This study undertakes an econometric analysis of data on the use of child care services and labor force participation drawn from a survey of 1,720 households in 15 `favelas,` or slums, in Rio de Janeiro. The analysis examines the impact that access to child care services has on female labor force participation and final earnings.

De terugkeer van het mattheuseffect?: de casus van de kinderopvang in Vlaanderen

This research note investigates the presence of a so called Matthew effect in the use and distribution of childcare services in the Belgian region of Flanders. The analyses show that this is the case and that the use of childcare is unequally distributed among society. Low income families with children make only half as much use of childcare services than higher income families. Next to this, the distributional efforts of the government with regard to childcare show the same patterns of inequality notwithstanding the use of income-sensitive tariff structures. Part of the explanation lies in the higher rates of inactivity among mothers of low income families. As they don’t engage in paid work, prima facie they don’t need childcare for their children. However, our data show that a high number of these inactive mothers do want to work but are having troubles finding affordable care services. Thus, next to the inequalities found in the use of services and the allocation of resources, there seems to be a problem of accessibility. Given these results, the article pinpoints the relevance of research about the distribution of resources in contemporary welfare states.

Frequency of public child care service use and associated factors

Assess the maternal socio-demographic factors associated with the frequency of use of child care services by low income families. Cross-sectional analysis of 393 children between 12 and 16 months old who participated in a randomized field trial during their first year of life in a program of nutritional intervention. The study began in the Brazilian Unified Health System (Sistema Unico de Saúde, SUS) of the maternity hospital in the city of São Leopoldo, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Children were examined regarding child care follow-up and vaccination schedule by checking the immunization chart. Data were analyzed using statistical tests Pearson's chi square and prevalence ratio (PR) with respective 95% confidence interval. The frequency of children who were not continuously taken to the child care service was 53.2%. Multivariate analysis suggests that the factors associated with the lack of continuous use of the service were: mother's educational level <or= 8 years (PR 1.32 95%CI 1.02-1.71), non-nuclear family structure (PR 1.32 95%CI 1.10-1.59) and not being an only child (PR 1.38 95%CI 1.10-1.72). The reasons for lack of follow-up, according to the mothers were: the fact that they thought it unnecessary for 66.2%, problems with the service for 21.7%, difficulties related to their jobs for 6.05%, and other reasons for 6.05%. The high frequency of children who were not taken to the child health care service for follow-up is associated with low maternal educational level and family structure, as well as the perception that follow-up visits are not necessary when the child does not have a disease.

Frequência de utilização do serviço público de puericultura e fatores associados

OBJETIVO: Avaliar os fatores sociodemograficos associados a frequencia da utilizacao do servico de puericultura por familias de baixo nivel socioeconomico. METODOS: Analise transversal de 393 criancas, com idades entre 12 e 16 meses, que participaram de um ensaio de campo randomizado no primeiro ano de vida em um programa de intervencao nutricional. O estudo iniciou nos setores de atendimento do Sistema Unico de Saude da maternidade da cidade de Sao Leopoldo (RS). As criancas foram avaliadas quanto ao acompanhamento na puericultura e calendario de vacinacao. Para analise dos dados utilizou-se teste qui-quadrado de Pearson e razao de prevalencia (RP) com respectivo intervalo de confianca de 95% (IC95%). RESULTADOS: A frequencia de criancas que nao foram levadas regularmente foi de 53,2%. A analise multivariada sugere que os fatores associados a ausencia de utilizacao regular do servico foram: escolaridade materna < 8 anos (RP 1,32; IC95% 1,02-1,71), estrutura familiar nao nuclear (RP 1,32; IC95% 1,10-1,59) e nao ser filho unico (RP 1,38; IC95% 1,10-1,72). Os motivos relatados para o nao acompanhamento da crianca na puericultura foram: 66,2% consideraram desnecessario, 21,7% referiram insatisfacao com o servico, 6,05% impossibilidade devido ao emprego e 6,05% outros motivos. CONCLUSAO: A elevada frequencia de criancas que nao sao levadas para acompanhamento no servico de puericultura esta associada a baixa escolaridade materna e a estrutura familiar, alem da percepcao de que e desnecessario na ausencia de doenca da crianca.