Economic Incentives and Foster Child Adoption

Every year, a large number of children in the United States enter the foster care system. Many of them are eventually reunited with their biological parents or quickly adopted. A significant number, however, face long-term foster care, and some of these children are eventually adopted by their foster parents. The decision by foster parents to adopt their foster child carries significant economic consequences, including forfeiting foster care payments while also assuming responsibility for medical, legal, and educational expenses, to name a few. Since 1980, U.S. states have begun to offer adoption subsidies to offset some of these expenses, significantly lowering the cost of adopting a child who is in the foster care system. This article presents empirical evidence of the role that these economic incentives play in foster parents’ decision of when, or if, to adopt their foster child. We find that adoption subsidies increase adoptions through two distinct price mechanisms: by lowering the absolute cost of adoption, and by lowering the relative cost of adoption versus long-term foster care.     

Self-care: Why do parents leave their children unsupervised?

We used a preferences-and-constraints model to develop four hypotheses to explain why parents may choose self-care (an unsupervised arrangement) as the primary child care arrangement for their children over supervised alternatives and tested them in a multivariate framework using 1995 data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. We found that the choice of self-care over supervised care alternatives is linked to the availability of parents' time to care for children, the child's level of responsibility and maturity, and the neighborhood context. However, we found no evidence that parents' ability to pay for child care is related to the choice of self-care. The results also suggest that parents use different decision-making processes, depending on their children's ages.     

Social Policies and Families in Stress: Gender and Educational Differences in Work–Family Conflict from a European Perspective

In modern welfare states, family policies may resolve the tension between employment and care-focused demands. However these policies sometimes have adverse consequences for distinct social groups. This study examined gender and educational differences in working parents’ perceived work–family conflict and used a comparative approach to test whether family policies, in particular support for child care and leave from paid work, are capable of reducing work–family conflict as well as the gender and educational gaps in work–family conflict. We use data from the European Social Survey 2010 for 20 countries and 5296 respondents (parents), extended with information on national policies for maternity and parental leave and child care support from the OECD Family Database. Employing multilevel analysis, we find that mothers and the higher educated report most work–family conflict. Policies supporting child care reduce the level of experienced work–family conflict; family leave policy appears to have no alleviating impact on working parents’ work–family conflict. Our findings indicate that family policies appear to be unable to reduce the gender gap in conflict perception and even widen the educational gap in work–family conflict.     

儿童照料与二孩生育意愿 ——来自上海的证据

本文围绕一项针对上海市育龄女性的生育意愿调查,分别使用二分和有序Logit方法分析儿童照顾对上海市育龄女性的二孩生育意愿的影响。研究发现当育龄女性能够从家庭内和社会中获得更多孩子照料的时间支持时,她们有更高的二孩生育意愿,也会伴有更明确的二孩生育规划;双独家庭能够从父辈获得更多的经济、时间上的帮助,因此他们要比单独家庭和双非家庭更愿意再生一个孩子;居住于上海市城区的女性从某种程度上更易获得孩子的照料资源,有更多的优质教育资源可供选择,因此她们的二孩生育意愿高于居住于郊区的女性。此外,本文通过是否采用了避孕措施对二孩生育的意愿程度做了进一步区分,结果发现当第一个孩子主要是由孩子父母承担照料工作的时候,女性存在二孩生育意愿的程度是最低的,祖辈照料对二孩生育意愿程度的积极影响也明显低于社会性照料,此现象在上海市户籍的女性中体现尤为明显。最后为纠正自选择偏差问题,本文使用倾向值匹配方法(PSM)进一步验证了与首孩性别相比,首孩的抚养成本与接受照料情况显然对二孩生育意愿的影响程度更大。因此,本文认为加大公共托育服务的供给、为育龄女性提供高质量的0-3岁婴幼儿社会照料支持是提高二孩生育意愿的最有效政策。     

State regulations and child care choice

While government regulations are designed to safeguard the health and well-being of children, they may also alter the cost and availability of child care, thus affecting parental use of such services. This paper investigates the total effects of regulation on parental choice of child care and the indirect effects of regulation through the price, quality, and availability of care. In our analysis of data from the National Child Care Survey 1990 we find strong evidence that state regulations requiring center-based providers to be trained are associated with a lower probability that parents choose a center, while state inspections are associated with more parental choice of center and home care. We end by discussing the policy implications of our findings.     

Who takes care of the children? The quantity-quality model revisited

We study the Becker and Lewis (1973) quantity-quality model of children adding an explicit child care time constraint for parents. Parents can take care of the children themselves or purchase day care. Our results are: (i) If there only is own care, a quantity-quality trade-off, different from that of Becker and Lewis (1973), arises. The income effect on fertility is positive if child quantity is a closer complement than child quality to the consumption of goods. (ii) If, instead, there is a combination of purchased and own care, the effect of income on fertility is ambiguous, even if quantity of children is a normal good in the standard sense. This is the Becker and Lewis (1973) result extended to a situation with a binding child care time constraint. The conclusion is that the Becker and Lewis (1973) result holds as long as at least some child care is purchased. Received: 12 November 1999/Accepted: 1 September 2000     

The impact of child care on fertility in urban Thailand

Women’s labor force participation in Thailand, particularly in the modem sector, recently has increased in conjunction with rapid declines in fertility. This paper examines whether a relationship exists between child care considerations and fertility decision making among Bangkok women. Although the two-child family has become the norm in recent years, and although most respondents said that ideally they would like to have two children, a high proportion of women surveyed said they planned to only have one child. Women’s work status and type of employment is found to strongly affect the likelihood of having a second birth: those who work at jobs that not only are low-paying but are located in a formal setting are least likely to have a second child. The type of child care for the first child also has an impact: those whose first child is in a less preferred situation are less likely to have a second. Variables measuring the need for and type of child care are found to have greater consequences for fertility than do usual measures of socioeconomic status.     

Can consumers detect lemons? An empirical analysis of information asymmetry in the market for child care

This paper tests adverse selection in the market for child care. A unique data set containing quality measures of various characteristics of child care provided by 746 rooms in 400 centers, as well as the evaluation of the same attributes by 3,490 affiliated consumers (parents) in the U.S., is employed. Comparisons of consumer evaluations of quality to actual quality show that after adjusting for scale effects, parents are weakly rational. The hypothesis of strong rationality is rejected, indicating that parents do not utilize all available information in forming their assessment of quality. The results demonstrate the existence of information asymmetry and adverse selection in the market, which provide an explanation for low average quality in the U.S. child care market.

The influence of market wages and parental history on child labour and schooling in Egypt

This paper examines the influence of adult market wages and having parents who were child labourers on child labour, when this decision is jointly determined with child schooling, using data from Egypt. The empirical results suggest that low adult market wages are key determinants of child labour; a 10% increase in the illiterate male market wage decreases the probability of child labour by 22% for boys and 13% for girls. The findings also indicate the importance of social norms in the intergenerational persistence of child labour: parents who were child labourers themselves are on average 10% more likely to send their children to work. In addition, higher local regional income inequality increases the likelihood of child labour.

Cross-National Differences in the Association Between Parental Work Hours and Time with Children in Europe: A Multilevel Analysis

This study investigates cross-national differences in the association between parental work hours and parent–child interaction time and explains differences in this individual-level association on the basis of country characteristics. It extends prior research by testing the moderating effects of country characteristics through multilevel analyses and by considering the possibility of selection effects. The presumption was that parents employ strategies to protect family life from work encroachments and that these strategies are enhanced by reconciliation policies, stronger parenthood ideologies, access to part-time work and higher income levels. Multilevel analyses were based on a subset of 5.183 parents in 23 countries from the 2005 European Working Conditions Survey that was complemented with country-level data. The negative association between parental work hours and parent–child time indeed varied significantly across countries and was weaker in countries where formal child care coverage was higher, part-time work was less prevalent, and earnings were lower. The effects of part-time work and earnings mainly applied to mothers. These findings suggest that child care coverage limits the availability of children and that differences in parent–child time between parents who work short and long hours are more pronounced when part-time work is more accessible and affordable.     

Birth of a very low birth weight preterm infant and the intention to breastfeed 'naturally'

An interpretive phenomenological study involving 17 Australian parents was undertaken to explore parents' experiences of breastfeeding very low birth weight (VLBW) preterm infants from birth to 12 months of age. Data were collected from 45 individual interviews held with both mothers and fathers, which were then transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. From this study, the analysis identified the following themes: the intention to breastfeed naturally; breast milk as connection; the maternal role of breast milk producer; breastmilk as the object of attention; breastfeeding and parenting the hospitalised baby and the demise of breastfeeding. The discussion presented here presents the theme of the intention to breastfeed 'naturally'. This study found that all of the participant women decided to breastfeed well before the preterm birth, and despite the birth of a VLBW preterm infant continued to expect the breastfeeding experience to be normal regardless of the difference of the postpartum experience. It is without doubt that for these parents the pro-breastfeeding rhetoric is powerfully influential and thus successful in promoting breastfeeding. Furthermore, all participants expected breastfeeding to be 'natural' and satisfying. There is disparity between parents' expectations of breastfeeding 'naturally' and the commonplace reality of long-term breast expression and uncertain at-breast feeding outcomes. How the parents came to make the decision to breastfeed their unborn child -- including the situations and experiences that have influenced their decision making -- and how the preterm birth and the dominant cultures subsequently affected that decision will be discussed. The findings have implications for midwifery education and maternity care professionals who support parents making feeding decisions early in pregnancy and those striving to breastfeed preterm infants.     

The foster care crisis: What caused caseloads to grow

Foster care caseloads more than doubled from 1985 to 2000. This article provides the first comprehensive study of this growth by relating state-level foster care caseloads to state-specific characteristics and policies. We present evidence that increases in female incarcerations and reductions in cash welfare benefits played dominant roles in explaining the growth in foster care caseloads over this period. Our results highlight the need for child welfare policies designed specifically for the children of incarcerated parents and parents who are facing less generous welfare programs.     

关注一孩政策后续效应：老年人晚年照料意愿及其影响因素分析

伴随着迅速的社会变迁,老年人晚年照料的被期待支持者与实际支持者之间出现了些许矛盾。基于CLASS 的调查数据,对老年人晚年照料负责的主体划分为四类,分别是正式支持、子代支持、非典型自我支持和协同支持。通过交叉分析和逻辑回归发现,虽然独生子女父母和非独生子女父母认为晚年照料由正式支持来负责的比例都不高,但是独生子女父母在该项的责任认定方面明显高于非独生子女父母。相比于非独生子女父母对于子代支持责任的依赖,独生子女父母对于照料责任的认定比较分散,呈现出正式支持、子代支持、非典型自我支持和协同支持平分秋色的特点。个人基本特征、经济状况因素、健康状况因素以及生活态度因素等变量均对老年人晚年照料责任意愿的认定影响显著。     

Stillbirth in Australia 5: Making respectful care after stillbirth a reality: The quest for parent-centred care

Stillbirth is a tragedy that can leave parents feeling powerless and vulnerable. Respectful and supportive bereavement care is essential to reducing adverse psychosocial impact. Initiatives of the Australian Centre of Research Excellence in Stillbirth are designed to improve care after stillbirth. At their heart are the voices of perinatally bereaved parents and support organisations and shared decision making between parents and health care providers. Priorities in future perinatal bereavement care research include ensuring appropriate care for population groups who experience higher rates of stillbirth and addressing implementation challenges to best practice in respectful and supportive bereavement care within our health systems.     

Flexible Work Hours and Other Job Factors in Parental Time with Children

Flexible working hours are typically seen to be advantageous to working parents, as the flexible hours more easily allow responsibilities of care and employment be balanced. But do flexible work hours actually mean that parents can spend more time with their children? This article explores this for parents of young children in Australia. The analyses use the time use diaries of children in the two cohorts of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), from the first wave of the study in 2004. The study children in each cohort were aged about one year old and 4–5 years old. For each child, a weekday and weekend diary were completed, giving 5,579 weekday diaries and 4,478 weekend diaries. The diaries captured details of the children’s activities and of who they were with in each 15 min period of a day, and so allowed calculation of the total amount of time the child was with their mother and with their father. Multivariate analyses were used to determine whether amounts of mother-child and father-child time varied according to flexibility of work hours, taking account also of other job characteristics, family and child characteristics. The analyses showed that flexible work hours had only weak independent relationships with mothers’ and fathers’ time with children. Inasmuch as flexible hours are beneficial for parents, it appears that this is related to their ability to distribute their time between work and family time, rather than giving them more time with children.     

Time use in child care and housework and the total cost of children

The use of time for child care and housework among Swedish families is investigated. We allow the effect of children on child care and housework to vary by age of the child and also by whether the child is cared for outside the home or not. Our estimates allow us to compute the total cost of children in the form of the cost of time, and the cost of goods, services and housing.The result shows that time used for child care decreases sharply with the age of the child but this is not the case for time used for other housework. Considerable economies of scale is found to prevail for time used for child care. Child care outside the home reduces time use for other housework but the effect on time used for child care is quite small. For the average family time use cost make up more than half of total child cost. Our estimates indicate that decreased time use cost for children caused by care outside the home are not very different from a typical parental fee for public day care.This research was supported by a grant from the Swedish Council of Social Research (SFR). We thank Lennart Flood for useful comments on an earlier version.     

Assortative mating among unmarried parents: Implications for ability to pay child support

Assortative mating is of interest to both theoretical and applied social scientists. Previous research is based almost entirely on married couples and parents. In this paper we use data from the NSFG to examine assortative mating among unmarried parents in the US and to examine the robustness of estimates of nonresident fathers' income based on assortative mating assumptions. We find that never married parents are similar, though not identical, to married parents in their choice of partners. White unmarried women are much more likely to have a child with a non-white male than white married women. On the other hand, unmarried women are more likely than married women to have a child with a more educated male. Received: 31 May 2000/Accepted: 2 January 2001     

Economic incentives for financial and residential independence

In this paper we examine the impact of the resources of children and of their parents on the children’s transition to residential and financial independence. Previous studies of this transition focused primarily on the impact of family structure and parent-child relationships on the decision to leave home, but much less is known about the role of economic factors in the transition to independence. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) for the period 1968–1988, we estimate discrete-hazard models of the probability of achieving residential and financial independence. We find that the child’s wage opportunities and the parents’ income are important determinants of establishing independence. The effect of parental income changes with the child’s age. We also find some evidence that federal tax policy influences the decision to become independent, although the magnitude of this effect is quite small.     

Weighing up the risks — Vaccine decision-making in pregnancy and parenting

BackgroundImmunisation is universally accepted as one of the most significant health initiatives in recent times. However, vaccine hesitancy is increasing in Australia and other high- and middle-income countries. There is evidence to suggest that many parents, even those who elect to immunise, may have a degree of vaccine hesitancy. The recommendation of a healthcare professional is a predictor for vaccine uptake.AimThe purpose of this study was to explore the values, beliefs and choices made by vaccine hesitant parents and pregnant women, regarding their decision not to vaccinate their child or children. The aim being to determine the factors that influence this decision making and to give a voice to vaccine hesitant parents.MethodsA qualitative exploratory online survey of 106 vaccine hesitant parents and pregnant women was conducted in 2021. The survey utilised closed and open-ended questions.FindingsPregnant women and parents obtained most of their immunisation education from nurses, midwives, and general practitioners. Vaccine decision-making was however, influenced by multiple factors including vaccine safety concerns, the sources of information accessed, and a previous negative immunisation experience. Other influential factors included the use of alternative therapies, diet, and lifestyle factors.DiscussionAlong with general practitioners, nurses and midwives are a popular, respected and a vital source in the provision of accurate and timely immunisation education. However, further education is required at an undergraduate level to adequately prepare them for their role of listening to and educating vaccine hesitant pregnant women and parents.