Child Child and Hard Economic Times

Facing economic uncertainty, families are cutting back on costs left and right. One expense that families are cutting back on is child care (see Wall Street Journal article below).

Research has shown that when there is an economic recession, fathers are more likely to provide child care (see Casper and O'Connell 1993). It will be interesting to see if the same trend occurs during the current recession. The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) collects child care data and the 2008 panel will be in the field later next year, so it might be possible to pick up on such a trend. Can't wait to get my hands on the data!


Families Cut Back on Day Care As Costs - and Worries - Rise

By SUE SHELLENBARGE

Behind the drumbeat of grim economic news, a lot of quiet shuffling is going on as parents pull small children out of paid child care.

Enrollment at some child-care centers is falling and nanny agencies are reporting mounting layoffs as families cut child-care costs -- which rival mortgage payments in many households. An October online survey by the women's Web site BettyConfidential.com found that 12% of 100-plus parents who responded are cutting child care.

Some parents are tapping grandparents or even great-grandparents for help. Others are switching to back-to-back shifts to trade off child-care duties. Still others try to work at home with their children present, or even take them to the office. And many wonder just how deeply they can cut child-care costs without hurting the kids.

Caroline Fafara's 3-year-old son and infant twins used to be in a child-care center full-time. But now, facing soaring food and health-insurance costs and pay cuts on her husband's city job, Ms. Fafara has withdrawn the twins and cut her son's preschool hours to part-time. Filling the gap: an elaborate three-generation scaffolding of relatives.

Ms. Fafara, an inventory manager in Philadelphia, drops off her son at preschool each day and her husband takes the twins to his grandparents' house, where his cousin helps care for them. After preschool, Ms. Fafara's parents bring her son to their house. Then, the couple picks everyone up at day's end. While she's immensely grateful for the help, says Ms. Fafara, all the shuttling around can be hard.

Some 40% of grandparents who live near young grandchildren are regularly providing child care, according to an August survey of 500 grandparents by the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies. While research shows leaving a baby or toddler with grandparents can be good for them, the trend isn't without its costs. Although Mayra Montano, of Los Angeles, is happy to care for her daughter's three children, her husband was recently laid off and she needs to look for a job herself now. "I'm getting sick from all the stress," she says.

Job hunting without child care can be tough. After losing his job in an aluminum plant last week, Kevin Eaton of Morehouse, Mo., withdrew his 4-year-old daughter from preschool and is doing his best to care for her, preparing meals and keeping her at home during a cold snap. But he already missed out on one job opening after other applicants showed up at the plant to apply in person, he says. Juggling bills, child care and a job hunt, Mr. Eaton -- whose wife works full-time -- describes his state of mind as "confusion."

Other parents are giving up family time. Devorah Hicks, a Hatboro, Pa., teacher, says her husband, a supervisor for an airline, chose to work 10-hour shifts through the weekend so they could cut their toddler's child-care time to two days a week from three. While this is helping save money in case of a layoff, "it's hard not having a full day" together, she says.

All this tends to be hardest on the parents. There's little evidence that changing child care, in and of itself, hurts children, says James Griffin, a deputy chief at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. An institute study of 1,100 children found stability of child care had little predictive impact on development.

Experts cite just three "don'ts." First, try to avoid taking preschoolers out of group care entirely, says Deborah Lowe Vandell, chairwoman of the education department at the University of California, Irvine. Some preschool experience aids development starting around age 2½.

Second, avoid placing a child with someone who isn't warm, caring or responsive, says Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute; that bond with the caregiver matters most.

Finally, parents should guard against their stress spilling over onto children. "Think of them as listening and reading, if not your words, then your feelings," Ms. Galinsky says. Transitions can be positive, if you think of them "as teaching your children to venture out" and learn new skills.

Write to Sue Shellenbarger at sue.shellenbarger@wsj.com