Cost of Child Care

Low-income mothers use a variety of forms of child care which range from state-subsidized care, leaving children with family, and allowing children, of an appropriate age, to care for themselves. These all result in varying degrees of success and very frequently mothers end up placing their children in the different forms of child care either simultaneously, for instance preschool followed by the use of kin caretakers until a mother is home from work, or throughout the youth of the children. Below I have paraphrased definitions of the types of childcare available adn most frequently occurring according to Ajay Chaudry in his book "Putting Children First."

1. Kin care - care from the relative of a child, often the child's maternal grandmother, but also potentially relatives of the mother or father. Care occurs in either the home or the relative or the child.

2. Informal care - Care for a child from a person who is not a relative at that person's home. Care is arranged on an individual basis for the one child, and can come from a friend, neighbor or acquaintance.

3. Family day care - Care with a licensed provider who runs a child care business in her home. The child is generally part of a group of kids who are not necessarily related.

4. Center care - This includes both preschool, day care and nursery programs that congregate large groups of children and the nature of their locations varies from churches, to schools to community centers.

5. Alternative care - This category encompasses father care, babysitters and any other means of care.

What is interesting in Chaudry's findings is that, while mothers prefer the structure and development found in center care, due to scheduling conflicts and the financial burden that comes with them. Most frequently family day care is used because it costs less and the hours can stretch to accommodate commutes and long hours that seem to coincide with the jobs that low-income mothers hold.