Chapter 7: Parental Decision Making About Non-Parental Child Care

Non-parental child care, defined here as child care provided for minor children by someone other than their parents, is increasingly prevalent in the United States. A recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (2019) reveals that almost two-thirds (63.0%) of married-couple families with children in the home include partners who are both employed, highlighting the need for care for children by someone other than their parents. Factoring in the number of families headed by women who are employed (74%), it becomes even clearer how prevalent the need is for non-parental child care (U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 2019). In fact, these data reveal that almost three-fourths (71.5%) of all women with children under 18 are in the labor force, and since mothers traditionally shoulder a larger responsibility for the care of children than fathers (e.g., Bianchi et al., 2000; Ehrenberg et al., 2001; Pleck, 1997; Vierling-Claasen, 2013), the need for non-parental care is evident. Additionally, an examination of patterns of maternal employment in new mothers reveals that the percentage of women in the work-force within 12 months of giving birth has increased from 62.1% in 2011 to 63.4% in 2017, with only a slight dip to 61.7% and 61.8% in 2013 and 2014, respectively (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017).