Choice and accommodation in parental child care decisions
Choice and accommodation in parental child care decisions
As women approach parity with men in their representation in the U.S. labor force, child care has become a critical concern both for families and for community development professionals. In this paper, we review recent literature on parental child care decisions and on socio-economic differences in child care utilization. We contrast two bodies of theoretical and empirical research on the determinants of child care arrangements, comparing models of individual consumption choice with models of socially constructed or situated patterns of action.
This research suggests that parental child care decisions may be best understood as accommodations—to family and employment demands, social and cultural expectations, available information, and financial, social, and other resources—that often reproduce other forms of economic and social stratification.
child care, maternal employment, poverty, work/family balance
53-70
Meyers, Marcia K.
f543f63f-db30-41a3-9678-3ee6323866d3
Jordan, Lucy P.
3777351d-b226-43dd-9f6b-388481e5f1d3
June 2006
Meyers, Marcia K.
f543f63f-db30-41a3-9678-3ee6323866d3
Jordan, Lucy P.
3777351d-b226-43dd-9f6b-388481e5f1d3
Meyers, Marcia K. and Jordan, Lucy P.
(2006)
Choice and accommodation in parental child care decisions.
Community Development, 37 (2), .
(doi:10.1080/15575330609490207).
Abstract
As women approach parity with men in their representation in the U.S. labor force, child care has become a critical concern both for families and for community development professionals. In this paper, we review recent literature on parental child care decisions and on socio-economic differences in child care utilization. We contrast two bodies of theoretical and empirical research on the determinants of child care arrangements, comparing models of individual consumption choice with models of socially constructed or situated patterns of action.
This research suggests that parental child care decisions may be best understood as accommodations—to family and employment demands, social and cultural expectations, available information, and financial, social, and other resources—that often reproduce other forms of economic and social stratification.
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Published date: June 2006
Keywords:
child care, maternal employment, poverty, work/family balance
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Local EPrints ID: 154955
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/154955
PURE UUID: d9b5168f-f9dd-4a5f-87f0-37d1c2a1f287
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Date deposited: 26 May 2010 13:55
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 01:36
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Author:
Marcia K. Meyers
Author:
Lucy P. Jordan
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