Instability in patchworks of child care when moving from welfare to work

Abstract

We use longitudinal, qualitative interview data collected from 38 initially welfare‐reliant women in Cleveland, Ohio to examine the factors driving instability in child‐care arrangements when women transitioned from welfare to work. Grounded theory analysis revealed that decisions about care were circumscribed by scarce social and economic resources, women went to extraordinary lengths to patch together arrangements that typically involved multiple providers, relative care was central to patchworks of care, and patchworks of child care were often highly unstable. These complex arrangements and their instability were influenced by mothers’ desires to find the most suitable arrangements for their children within resource and job constraints, dissatisfaction with providers, difficulties accessing subsidies, and changes in provider availability. Findings suggest that policymakers must consider instability in patchworks of multiple child‐care providers as they consider alternatives for meeting low‐wage working women's and children's needs for safe, affordable, accessible, and enriching nonmaternal child care.

The Role of Informal Childcare in Mothers’ Experiences of Care and Employment: A Qualitative Lifecourse Analysis

“…A single mother's ability to enter employment and maintain it is dependent on her ability to find appropriate alternative carers during the periods she is working (Brady 2010;Cabrera et al 2013;Scott et al 2005). Making care arrangements is not a one-off activity but instead once single mothers gain employment they must assimilate this activity with "caring for their children on an ongoing basis, sustained over time" (Millar and Ridge 2009, p. 104).…”

“…In the United States researchers find that when single mothers who are financially dependent on Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) move into paid work, they are commonly forced to depend on unstable patchworks of care. This reliance on informal care is due to financial constraints (including lack of access to subsidies for formal childcare), and the low supply of formal care in low income areas (Scott et al 2005). The unreliability of their care is due to the unpredictability of informal carers over time (Fuller et al 1996;Scott et al 2005) with family not always following through on commitments (Fuller et al 1996).…”

“…This reliance on informal care is due to financial constraints (including lack of access to subsidies for formal childcare), and the low supply of formal care in low income areas (Scott et al 2005). The unreliability of their care is due to the unpredictability of informal carers over time (Fuller et al 1996;Scott et al 2005) with family not always following through on commitments (Fuller et al 1996). Research also concludes that these childcare difficulties are the key factors that causes single mothers to return to TANF (Anderson et al 2004).…”

“…At the same time these scholars recognise the importance of social support in enabling single mothers to sustain employment (Mason 2003;Ridge and Millar 2011;Scott et al 2005). In the UK Millar and Ridge (2009) argue that social relationships across work, home, school and care settings "may be a key element in employment sustainability" (p. 104), while a review of the literature on single mothers and social support by Cook (2012) argues that families and friends may provide crucial free transport, food, and childcare that help mothers combine work and care.…”

Bad Jobs, Bad Parents? How Job Characteristics Relate to Time With Children and Self-Evaluations of Parents

“…Child-care arrangements for those with nonstandard schedules can be complex. Scott, London, and Hurst (2005) interviewed low-income women about their child-care arrangements. These women had to find child care that could accommodate multiple jobs with working hours early in the morning and late at night.…”