CHILD CARE
In order to more thoroughly examine the issue of child care, a series of
questions about child care arrangements and satisfaction with those
arrangements was asked of parents of young children.
Almost two-thirds (61%) of children in Iowa ages 0-5 spent at least some
time in child care in the week prior to the survey. About a third (35%) of
Iowa’s young children had one setting where they received child care, and
about a quarter (26%) received care from two or more settings. Just over
half (52%) of the children ages 0-5 who were in child care received at
least some of their care at a home-based child care setting. Twenty-eight
percent received care in a child care center, and 30% in a preschool. Onefourth
of children received care from a friend or neighbor. For those
children receiving child care, the number of child care settings did not
differ by income level; however, lower income children were less likely to
have been in any child care.
For the most part, parents chose their primary child care site based on
quality. Thirty-three percent of children were in their main child care
setting because their parents had made quality their top priority. However,
for many parents, a combination of factors affected the choice of a child
care arrangement. Location, previous experience with the provider, and
hours of operation were also important reasons for choosing a child care settings. Parents
of 6% of children chose their primary child care setting primarily because of cost, and
42% of these children lived in households with incomes below 200% FPL.
Many parents had trouble arranging child care for their young children. Parents of 42% of
children who needed child care had either a big (16%) or small (26%) problem finding it
There was a problem finding care for 38% of young children with special health care
needs, but those who had trouble were more likely to have a big problem (29% big, 10%
small). One-fourth with a problem had this trouble due to the child’s special health car
need. One percent of all young children in Iowa had been asked to leave a child care
setting because of issues with behavior.
About 6% of children had to change child care providers due to the cost of the
care. For those who chose child care providers based primarily on cost, 24%
had previously switched providers due to cost. Parents were asked about the
likelihood of switching providers if costs were not an issue. About one-quarter
of children had parents who would consider switching providers if costs were
not an issue.
Parents were asked to evaluate the “primary” site (i.e., most hours) in which
their child was cared for in the previous week. The distribution of “primary”
child care settings is as follows: 50% in a home-based setting, 25% in centerbased
care, 17% in a preschool setting, 8% from family members (in most
cases grandparents). Weekly hours in the primary child care site differed by
setting. As indicated in Figure 13, three-quarters of children whose care is
primarily received in a preschool are in this setting for 20 hours or less per
week. For the most part, children in home-based, center-based, or family care
received care for more than 20 hours per week. Primary setting did not differ
by income level, however, there were differences by age. Children ages 4-5
were more likely than younger children to be in a preschool, and infants and
toddlers were more likely than 4-5 year olds to be in home-based child care.
Parents’ satisfaction with different aspects of their child care arrangement was
determined for parents with a child in center-based care, home-based care, and
preschool/Head Start as their primary site. Questions included satisfaction
with arrangements, cost, staff training, activities, distance, and overall quality.
As Figure 14 shows, generally speaking, young Iowans’ parents report high
levels of satisfaction with their primary child care site. Of the various
attributes of child care sites evaluated, parents were least likely to report ‘very
satisfied’ with cost (60%).
Figure 13. Hours in primary child care site, by setting
Figure 14. Very satisfied with child care
When the satisfaction questions are broken down by income category, there are
some large discrepancies. As may be seen in Figure 15, lower income
households were less likely to report being ‘very satisfied’ in a number of
categories. All differences were statistically significant (p<0.05) with the
exceptions of satisfaction with distance and staff training. The only age-related
satisfaction difference was in the category ‘Overall quality,’ where younger
children were least likely to have parents reporting ‘very satisfied.’
Figure 15. Very satisfied with child care by poverty-level status
As Figure 16 shows, there were some differences in satisfaction by primary
setting. Preschoolers were most likely to have parents that were ‘very satisfied’
with staff training, available activities, and overall quality. Those whose
children’s primary setting was home-based child care were more likely than
those in other settings to report they were ‘very satisfied’ with cost (71% vs.
36% center-based, and 57% preschool). There were no statistically significant
differences by site for satisfaction with distance traveled.
Figure 16. Very satisfied with child care by primary setting
