Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Ecological Patterning and Effects of Child Care Markets

Brown University, Providence RI

Investigators

Abstract

The Ecological Patterning and Effects of Child Care Markets PI: Josh Pacewicz Co-PI: Jennifer Bouek As mothers have flooded into the workforce over the past fifty years, children have entered into institutionalized and non maternal care environments in equally dramatic trends. These seismic social shifts have generated widespread debate around the implications of institutionalized care for child wellbeing. Yet, we know little about the ecological and organizational environments in which families arrange for their children's care. This project questions how and why local child care markets vary across communities and how this variation impacts families' child care choices and maternal employment opportunities. Beyond theoretical contributions, this project will sharpen the currently limited understanding of child care as an organizational field, responding to questions of equitable access, variations in quality and safety, and structural barriers to finding care. Results will be of interest to policymakers and social advocacy groups seeking to improve access to and the quality of child care, especially at a time of rising political interest in child care. This dissertation employs mixed-methods to examine the ecological patterning and effects of child care markets. The project is based upon a comparative and multiscalar research design, drawing data from four neighborhoods within two cities in two states. Phase one links state administrative records of child care providers and media archives with American Community Survey data within two of the largest American cities (Boston, MA and Houston, TX) which embody contrasting regulatory and social policy environments. Using spatial analysis and logistic regression, the project analyzes how the quality, safety and composition of local child care markets varies as a function of neighborhood disadvantage. Results from phase one provide the foundation for phase two, in which two neighborhoods within each city, each with similar socio demographic profiles but contrasting child care markets, are chosen for ethnographic study. Within each neighborhood, semi-structured in-depth interviews will be conducted among three groups of stakeholders: (1) mothers, (2) care providers, and (3) bureaucrats and nonprofit workers. Interviews will provide data on how markets are formed, why they vary, and the implications for families. The geocoded dataset from phase one, archive materials and non-confidential interview transcripts from phase two will be made available to the public. Summary reports will also be provided to nonprofit groups working within the communities of study.