Barriers to accessing formal childcare among disadvantaged populations: a cognitive approach - Master 's thesis

While formal childcare facilities or ECEC (i.e., mainly daycare centers and childminders) are very effective levers for reducing developmental inequalities present in early childhood, these facilities are themselves marked by strong inequalities in access. The reasons for the under-representation of disadvantaged families have already been studied, but not in a systematic way. The review work presented in this thesis made it possible to 1) construct an integrative model of barriers to access to formal childcare for these populations and 2) evaluate this model through a PRISMA systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature. socio-structural barriers are the only ones targeted by current public policies. However, our review shows that psychological barriers, which have never been theorized before, are at least as important as these socio-structural barriers. New public policies should be created to act on psychological barriers, otherwise, the effectiveness of structural reforms could be severely limited.

‘I can no longer do my work like how I used to’: a mixed methods longitudinal cohort study exploring how informal working mothers balance the requirements of livelihood and safe childcare in South Africa

Background Returning to work after childbirth is challenging for working mothers. Childcare quality may have lifelong effects on children’s health, development and cognitive function. Over 60% of working women globally are informal workers without employment or maternity protection, but little is known about how these women care for their children. Methods We conducted a mixed-methods longitudinal cohort study among informal women workers in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa between July 2018 and August 2019. Participants were followed up from late pregnancy until they had returned to work. We conducted structured quantitative interviews and in-depth qualitative interviews at different time points: before and after the baby was born, and after returning to work. Subsequently, a photovoice activity was conducted with groups of participants to explore the childcare environment. We employed narrative thematic analysis for qualitative data and descriptive analysis for quantitative data. Results 24 women were recruited to participate. Women returned to work soon after the baby was born, often earlier than planned, because of financial responsibilities to provide for the household and new baby. Women had limited childcare choices and most preferred to leave their babies with family members at home, as the most convenient, low cost option. Otherwise, mothers chose paid carers or formal childcare. However, formal childcare was reported to be poor quality, unaffordable and not suited to needs of informal workers. Mothers expressed concern about carers’ reliability and the safety of the childcare environment. Flexibility of informal work allowed some mothers to adapt their work to care for their child themselves, but others were unable to arrange consistent childcare, sometimes leaving the child with unsuitable carers to avoid losing paid work. Mothers were frequently anxious about leaving the child but felt they had no choice as they needed to work. Conclusion Mothers in informal work had limited childcare options and children were exposed to unsafe, poor-quality care. Maternity protection for informal workers would support these mothers to stay home longer to care for themselves, their family and their baby. Provision of good quality, affordable childcare would provide stability for mothers and give these vulnerable children the opportunity to thrive.

‘I Can No Longer Do My Work Like How I Used To’: A Qualitative Longitudinal Cohort Study Exploring How Informal Working Mothers Balance The Requirements Of Livelihood And Safe Childcare In South Africa.

Background: Returning to work after childbirth is challenging for working mothers. The quality of childcare may have lifelong effects on children’s health, development and cognitive function. Over 60% of working women globally are informal workers without employment or maternity protections, but little is known about how these women care for their children. Methods: We conducted a mixed methods longitudinal cohort study among informal women workers in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa between July 2018 and August 2019. Participants were followed up from late pregnancy until they had returned to work. We conducted structured quantitative interviews and in-depth qualitative interviews before and after the baby was born, and after returning to work. We then brought groups of participants together for a photovoice activity to explore the childcare environment. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data in NVIVO v12.4 and SPSSv26 was employed to analyse quantitative data. Results: Women returned to work soon after the baby was born, often earlier than planned, because of financial responsibilities to provide for the household and the new baby. Women had limited childcare choices and most preferred to leave their babies with family members at home, as the most convenient, low cost option. Otherwise, mothers chose paid carers or formal childcare. However, formal childcare was reported to be poor quality, unaffordable and not suited to needs of informal workers. Mothers expressed concern about carers’ reliability and the safety of the childcare environment. Flexibility of informal work allowed some mothers to adapt their work to care for their child themselves, but others were unable to arrange consistent childcare, sometimes leaving the child with unsuitable carers to avoid losing paid work. Mothers were frequently anxious about leaving the child but felt they had no choice as they needed to work. Conclusion: Mothers in informal work had limited childcare options and children were exposed to unsafe, poor-quality care. Maternity protection for informal workers would support these mothers to stay home longer to care for themselves, their family and their baby. Provision of good quality, affordable childcare would provide stability for mothers and give these vulnerable children the opportunity to thrive.

The social investment approach and gender division of housework across East Asia and Europe

This chapter discusses the issue of the gender division of housework, focusing on how formal childcare services and parental leave provisions are related to it. It comparatively studies the extent to which family policies are related to housework division in countries in East Asia and Europe. The chapter finds parental leave, which supports women as paid workers, is significant in Europe, but formal childcare services, which support women's deviant gender-roles, are significant when the examination is extended to East Asian countries. Gendered political power relations become significant only when Japan and Korea are added to the analysis. Neither gender-role ideology nor structural constraints, measured as gender wage gap, was an important macro-level factor. Ultimately, the chapter addresses how these results are related to the social investment approach to family and explains why the division of housework in East Asian countries remains highly gendered.

Uptake of Childcare Arrangements—Grandparental Availability and Availability of Formal Childcare

Grandparents constitute an important source of childcare to many parents. Focusing on the Belgian context, this paper improves our understanding of childcare decision-making by investigating how formal childcare availability and availability of grandparents affect childcare arrangements. By means of multinomial regression models we simultaneously model uptake of formal and informal childcare by parents. Combining linked microdata from the Belgian censuses with contextual data on childcare at the level of municipalities, we consider formal childcare availability at a local level, while including a wide array of characteristics which may affect grandparental availability. Results indicate that increasing formal care crowds-out informal care as the sole care arrangement, whereas combined use of formal and informal care becomes more prevalent. Characteristics indicating a lack of grandmaternal availability increase uptake of formal care and inhibit to a lesser extent the uptake of combined formal and informal care. While increasing formal care substitutes informal care use, the lack of availability of informal care by grandparents may be problematic, particularly for those families most prone to use informal care.

Migrant-native differentials in the uptake of (in)formal childcare in Belgium: The role of mothers’ employment opportunities and care availability

Objective: we explore migrant-native differentials in the uptake of formal and informal childcare and whether this is induced by lower demand for childcare versus differential access to (in)formal childcare compared to natives. Background: The rise in female labour market participation in recent decades has challenged parents to negotiate work and family responsibilities and organise childcare. Belgium is among the European countries with the highest availability of formal childcare, but maternal employment and uptake of childcare are substantially lower in migrant populations. Methods: Combining linked microdata from the 1991 and 2001 censuses with contextual data on childcare availability at the municipality level, we use multinomial logit models to study childcare use and type of childcare arrangement among parents having a young child in 2001. As access to childcare and maternal employment are mutually endogenous, we use estimated employment opportunities. Results: We find considerable migrant-native differentials in childcare use, as well as substantial differences between first and second generation migrants. Second generation mothers of Turkish, Moroccan and Eastern-European background are less likely than natives to use childcare, and more likely to rely on informal arrangements if childcare is used. Controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and differential availability of (in)formal childcare largely accounts for differences in childcare use, but Turkish and Moroccan women remain less likely to use care and first generation Turkish mothers remain more likely to use informal care as opposed to formal childcare. Conclusions: While differences in socio-demographic characteristics, labour market opportunities and availability of (in)formal care provide a partial explanation, partial migrant-native differentials in childcare use persist for specific groups, suggesting that other factors inhibit the uptake of formal childcare.