Department of Pediatrics (HAT Nguyen, A Poblacion, and C Bruce), Boston Medical Center, Boston, Mass.
Department of Pediatrics (HAT Nguyen, A Poblacion, and C Bruce), Boston Medical Center, Boston, Mass.
Acad Pediatr. 2023 Mar;23(2):387-395. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2022.07.009. Epub 2022 Jul 18.
High quality child care positively affects long-term development in children and is a necessary support for parents who work or are in school. We assessed the association between child care setting and parents' report of difficulties with ability to work and/or further their education ("child care constraints") or material hardships among families with low incomes.
Cross-sectional data were analyzed from families in Minneapolis, MN with children aged six weeks to 48 months in child care from 2004 to 2017. Associations between child care setting (formal, informal relative, informal non-relative) and child care constraints or material hardships (household/child food insecurity, housing instability, energy instability) were examined.
Among 1580 families, 73.8% used informal care. Child care subsidy and public assistance program participation were higher among families utilizing formal care. Compared to formal care, families using informal relative or non-relative care had 2.44 and 4.18 greater adjusted odds of child care constraints, respectively. Families with children in informal non-relative care had 1.51 greater adjusted odds of household food insecurity. There were no statistically significant associations between informal relative care and household or child food insecurity, and no associations between child care setting and housing instability or energy insecurity.
Informal care settings-relative and non-relative-were associated with child care constraints, and informal non-relative care with household food insecurity. Investment to expand equitable access to affordable, high-quality child care is necessary to enable parents to pursue desired employment and education and reduce food insecurity.
高质量的儿童保育对儿童的长期发展有积极影响，是父母工作或上学的必要支持。我们评估了儿童保育环境与父母报告的工作和/或继续接受教育的困难（“儿童保育限制”）或低收入家庭的物质困难之间的关系。
对明尼阿波利斯市的家庭进行了横断面数据分析，这些家庭的孩子年龄在 6 周到 48 个月之间，在 2004 年至 2017 年期间在儿童保育机构中。分析了儿童保育环境（正规、非正式亲属、非正式非亲属）与儿童保育限制或物质困难（家庭/儿童食品不安全、住房不稳定、能源不稳定）之间的关系。
在 1580 个家庭中，73.8%的家庭使用非正式照顾。使用正规照顾的家庭中，儿童保育补贴和公共援助计划的参与度更高。与正规照顾相比，使用非正式亲属或非亲属照顾的家庭分别有 2.44 倍和 4.18 倍的调整后儿童保育限制的优势比。有孩子在非正式非亲属照料的家庭，其家庭食物不安全的调整后优势比为 1.51。非正式亲属照顾与家庭或儿童食物不安全之间没有统计学上的显著关联，儿童保育环境与住房不稳定或能源不安全之间也没有关联。
非正式的照顾环境——亲属和非亲属——与儿童保育限制有关，而非正式的非亲属照顾与家庭食物不安全有关。需要投资扩大公平获得负担得起的高质量儿童保育的机会，以使父母能够追求他们想要的就业和教育，并减少食物不安全。
