Child Care Subsidies, Maternal Health, and Child-Parent Interactions: Evidence From Three Nationally Representative Datasets

Abstract

A complete account of the US child care subsidy system requires an understanding of its implications for both parental and child well-being. Although the effects of child care subsidies on maternal employment and child development have been recently studied, many other dimensions of family well-being have received little attention. This paper attempts to fill this gap by examining the impact of child care subsidy receipt on maternal health and the quality of child-parent interactions. The empirical analyses use data from three nationally representative surveys, providing access to numerous measures of family well-being. In addition, we attempt to handle the possibility of non-random selection into subsidy receipt by using several identification strategies both within and across the surveys. Our results consistently indicate that child care subsidies are associated with worse maternal health and poorer interactions between parents and their children. In particular, subsidized mothers report lower levels of overall health and are more likely to show symptoms consistent with anxiety, depression, and parenting stress. Such mothers also reveal more psychological and physical aggression toward their children and are more likely to utilize spanking as a disciplinary tool. Together, these findings suggest that work-based public policies aimed at economically disadvantaged mothers may ultimately undermine family well-being.

Quality of Life, Coping Styles, Stress Levels, and Time Use in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Comparing Single Versus Coupled Households

“…Single motherhood has been previously explored particularly within the area of social welfare and employment research (Cook, 2012b(Cook, , 2012cHerbst & Tekin, 2014;Wu, Wang, & Eamon, 2014); however, there is a paucity of research on single mothers of children with chronic health conditions, including children with a disability (Brown et al, 2008). Even fewer studies have been conducted with single mothers of children with ASD (Dyches, Christensen, Harper, Mandleco, & Roper, 2016).…”

How Social Safety Net Programs Affect Family Economic Well‐Being, Family Functioning, and Children's Development

“…Very few studies have examined the effects of receiving child-care subsidies on parents' psychological well-being or family functioning. Receiving child-care subsidies was associated with mothers having fewer mental health problems, increases in stress associated with parenting, and increases in harsh parent-child interactions (Herbst & Tekin, 2012).…”

Childcare subsidy policy: What it can and cannot accomplish

“…Evidence-based policy making are growing concerns that the twin goals of the CCDF-to encourage employment and to advance the quality of childcare-are in conflict with each other [7], [8], [9], [10], [11]. It is argued that the tension between the two goals is exacerbated by the current structure of the CCDF, which places too much emphasis on the goal of increasing parental employment and too little on enhancing the quality of childcare.…”

“…They also examine whether childcare subsidies influence other dimensions of family well-being, specifically the physical and mental health of mothers and the quality of child-parent interactions [11]. In the latter work they conduct analyses using data from three nationally representative surveys in the US that provide numerous measures of family well-being.…”