The American Family

A Compendium of Data and Sources

Josefina J. Card

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781317946496
• Topic: Scienze sociali
• Subtopic: Sociologia

This compendium is one of a series of social science research and teaching resources created by the American Family Data Archive at Sociometrics Corporation. It describes 28 data sets chosen by a panel of scientist-experts as having outstanding potential for secondary data analysis on issues facing today's American family.

1 National Child Care Survey 1990: Parent Study and Low-Income Substudy

Sandra L. Hofferth,

April Brayfield,

Sharon Deich,

Pamela Holcomb

Frederic Glantz

Purpose of the Study

Methods

Sampling Design

The Parent Study

The Low-Income Substudy

Periodicity

Unit of Analysis

Response Rates: Parent Study

Response Rates: Low-Income Substudy

Attrition

Content

Data Sources

Description of Questionnaire and Variables Covered: Parent Study

Description of Questionnaire and Variables Covered: Low-income Substudy

Number of Variables

Checklist of Topics Covered: Parent Study

Checklist of Topics Covered: Low-income Substudy

Checklist of Key Variables: Parent Study

Checklist of Key Variables: Low-income Substudy

Limitations

Parent Study

Low-income Substudy

Sponsorship

Guide to Data and Documentation

File Structure

List of Available Documentation

Contact

Cost

Bibliography

Purpose of the Study

The National Child Care Survey (NCCS) was designed to collect nationally generalizable data on child care demand and supply, including the use and characteristics of child care arrangements, how child care affects parental employment patterns, how parents make decisions about child care, and the characteristics of the settings in which child care is provided. The survey focused on what kinds of child care arrangements were used, how those arrangements were chosen, and how they were paid for. This information will help inform policy makers, program planners, parents and others by providing a comprehensive picture of child care from the perspective of both child care consumers and providers.

This abstract focuses on the main study (the Parent Study) and one of the substudies, the Low-Income Substudy. The Parent Study surveyed parents in randomly selected households with children under age 13 between October 1989 and May 1990. Additional surveys and substudies that related to the Parent Study were: a survey of individuals who provide child care in their own homes, a survey of center-based child care providers, a survey of child care providers used by the respondents in the Parent Study, and a military substudy.

The Low-Income Substudy is a nationally representative survey of 972 households with total annual incomes below $15,000 and one or more children under age 13. It focused on what kinds of child care arrangements respondents used, how those arrangements were chosen, and how payments were made. Many of the questions in the survey focused primarily on the youngest child, including satisfaction with the primary and secondary arrangements used by that child, reasons for choosing those arrangements, alternative arrangements considered, and a detailed history of child care arrangements during the previous year for that child. Extensive data on employment history were gathered, including the relationship between work and child care in the past. Basic demographic information such as income, education, and ethnic group were also included.

Methods

Sampling Design

The sample design was a three-stage clustered sample design. The first stage of the sampling frame consisted of all U.S. counties or county groups. A sample of 100 counties/county groups was drawn with probability-proportional-to-size sampling. The measure of size was the number of children under age five obtained from 1986 Census Bureau population estimates.

The second stage involved sampling telephone numbers within those counties/county groups. All possible banks of 100 contiguous telephone numbers were generated from the three-digit telephone exchanges used in those regions; 1,072 banks of 100 contiguous phone numbers were drawn from the 100 counties/county groups sampled in the first stage.

Finally, for each county or county group, a set number of telephone numbers was selected at random (without replacement) from the banks of 100 contiguous telephone numbers. The exact number drawn from each county or county group varied between 55 and 95 depending on the estimated probability of obtaining a residential phone number in that region.

The Parent Study

For the Parent Study, up to seven attempts were made for each telephone number in the sample. If an attempt resulted in a definite callback (i.e., a callback scheduled for a specific date and time), more than seven attempts could be made.

Each household contacted was screened for survey eligibility (a child under age 13 in the household). Within each eligible household, the interviewer asked to speak to the designated respondent. If the designated respondent (usually the mother of the youngest child living in the household) was not at home, interviewers probed for the best time to try to reach the designated respondent. Callbacks were handled automatically by Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) systems. Within the CATI system, definite callbacks always have priority over other samples available for calling, and if the original interviewer is not available, the call is sent to the first available interviewer.

The questionnaire was also translated into Spanish and programmed for administration by CATI. As interviewers encountered a Spanish-speaking respondent, they entered a special disposition code into the respondent’s data base record, and then the respondents were re-contacted by Spanish-speaking interviewers.

Respondents who had questions about the survey were invited to call Abt Associates survey staff using their toll-free number. Most calls received were from parents very concerned that revealing their child care schedules might leave their children potentially vulnerable to kidnappers or child molesters. The Abt Project Director spoke with concerned parents about the purpose and legitimacy of the study and assured them of the confidentiality of all information gathered. Since this was a random-digit-dial telephone survey, in fact, their addresses were not known.

Attempts were made to screen and complete interviews with most persons who initially refused the interview. An additional 280 interviews were completed with persons who initially refused the survey. Over 2,000 households contacted during the refusal conversion effort were determined not to be eligible for the survey. In a final attempt to maximize response rates, respondents whose latest sample disposition was a callback or not available until after the scheduled close-out date for their sample block were contacted. Each eligible individual was offered a ten dollar incentive to complete the interview. This resulted in 71 additional persons completing interviews.

The Low-Income Substudy

Interviewers called 25,464 phone numbers generated according to the study design; 14,558 of these numbers turned out to be residential, and interviewers successfully screened 10,961 of these households (75.3% of the residential numbers). Of these, 555 turned out to be eligible for the survey, that is, had income under $15,000, and one or more children under age 13.

Every attempt was made to complete an interview with each eligible household, therefore a $10 incentive payment was offered to those who completed the interview. A total of 236 respondents were paid the incentive. Some respondents who were offered the incentive declined to give their names and addresses so the payments could not be mailed to them.

Periodicity

Interviews f...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 National Child Care Survey 1990: Parent Study and Low-Income Substudy
• 2 A Profile of Child Care Settings: Home-Based and Center-Based Programs, 1989-1990
• 3 Current Population Survey (CPS) Child Support and Alimony Supplement, April 1979, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1990
• 30 The American Family Data Library
• Author/Organization Index
• Subject Index