abstract: "Objective.  The cost of child care affects women's economic\nopportunities,\
  \ limits children's chances to experience high-quality\nenvironments in their early\
  \ childhood years, and reinforces economic and\nsocial inequality.  This paper examines\
  \ several factors that may\ninfluence whether employed mothers purchase child care,\
  \ and, among those\nwho pay, how much they pay for child care services.  It also\n\
  investigates how these factors may be associated with the proportion of\ntotal family\
  \ income and the proportion of the mother's earnings spent on\nchild care.  Methods.\
  \  Whereas past research has relied primarily on\ncross-tabular techniques, this\
  \ study uses logistic and OLS regressions\nto analyze data from the National Child\
  \ Care Survey 1990.  Results. \nFindings suggest that cultural, economic, and kinship\
  \ resources and the\nneed for child care are most important in determining whether\
  \ an\nemployed mother pays for child care.  Family resources, cost of living,\n\
  and availability of alternative providers, such as teenage children, are\nsignificant\
  \ predictors of how much employed mothers pay for child care. \nConclusions.  It\
  \ is recommended that policies should emphasize voucher\nprograms over reimbursement\
  \ for out-of-pocket expenditures."
affiliation: BRAYFIELD, A (Corresponding Author), TULANE UNIV,DEPT SOCIOL,220 NEWCOMB
  HALL,NEW ORLEANS,LA 70118, USA.
author: BRAYFIELD, A and HOFFERTH, SL
author_list:
- family: BRAYFIELD
  given: A
- family: HOFFERTH
  given: SL
da: '2023-09-28'
files: []
issn: 0038-4941
journal: SOCIAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY
keywords-plus: WORK; EMPLOYMENT
language: English
month: MAR
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '17'
pages: 158-177
papis_id: 0f72e7427d554f755ecdcb57692ebc15
ref: Brayfield1995balancingfamily
times-cited: '14'
title: BALANCING THE FAMILY BUDGET - DIFFERENCES IN CHILD-CARE EXPENDITURES BY RACE
  ETHNICITY, ECONOMIC-STATUS, AND FAMILY-STRUCTURE
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:A1995RC27600011
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '4'
volume: '76'
web-of-science-categories: Political Science; Sociology
year: '1995'