The Effect of Child Care Costs on the Employment and Welfare Recipiency of Single Mothers

Affordability of child care is fundamental to parents’, in particular, women’s decision to work. However, information on the cost of care in Canada is limited. The purpose of the current study was to examine the feasibility of using linked survey and administrative data to compare and contrast parent-reported child care costs based on two different sources of data. The linked file brings together data from the 2011 General Social Survey (GSS) and the annual tax files (TIFF) for the corresponding year (2010). Descriptive analyses were conducted to examine the socio-demographic and employment characteristics of respondents who reported using child care, and child care costs were compared. In 2011, parents who reported currently paying for child care (GSS) spent almost $6700 per year ($7,500 for children age 5 and under). According to the tax files, individuals claimed just over $3900 per year ($4,700). Approximately one in four individuals who reported child care costs on the GSS did not report any amount on their tax file; about four in ten who claimed child care on the tax file did not report any cost on the survey. Multivariate analyses suggested that individuals with a lower education, lower income, with Indigenous identity, and who were self-employed were less likely to make a tax claim despite reporting child care expenses on the GSS. Further examination of child care costs by province and by type of care are necessary, as is research to determine the most accurate way to measure and report child care costs.

Download Full-text

Child Care by Poor Single Mothers: Study of Mother-Headed Families in India

Journal of Comparative Family Studies ◽

10.3138/jcfs.37.1.75 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 75-91 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

N. Indira Rani

Keyword(s):

Child Care ◽

Single Mothers

Download Full-text

Child Care Matters: What Educated Mothers Need Before Entering t he Labor Market

ADVANCES IN BUSINESS RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ◽

10.24191/abrij.v5i3.9985 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 36

Author(s):

Suhaida Mohd Amin ◽

Halimahton Borhan ◽

Abd Rahim Ridzuan ◽

Rosfadzimi Mat Saad ◽

Geetha Subramaniam

Keyword(s):

Labor Market ◽

Child Care ◽

Care Center ◽

Care Quality ◽

Participation Rates ◽

Regional Estimates ◽

Higher Institutions ◽

Quality Child ◽

Care Costs ◽

Very High

Individuals who succeed in higher education are supposedly skillful with very high employability rates and predictable career outcomes. In parallel with that, recent statistics show increasing number of female graduates in higher institutions in Malaysia. However, comparing regional estimates of female participation rates in the labor market, Malaysian women have a relatively low participation in labor market for decades. Among the educated women surveyed in 2017, 42 percent were outside the labor force while the married ones said they did not work to look after their children. In this qualitative study, nine educated mothers and three experts in the field were interviewed to find the real problems related to child care. The three validated themes were child care costs, availability of child care centers and child care quality. A quality child care center is usually more expensive. Although many qualified centers have been established, not all meet the needs of discerning educated mothers who can choose not to enter or exit the labor market to look after their children.

Download Full-text