‘You know how it makes you feel’: Low-income parents' childcare priorities and definitions of ideal high-quality childcare

Abstract

Through focus groups and a written activity, this study explores and compares 41 low-income Maryland parents' childcare priorities and definitions of ideal high-quality care. Features of ideal high-quality care identified by parents align with professional standards and with descriptions found in existing literature, though parents' operationalized definitions of quality varied, and their expectations were lower than most professional standards. There was also strong alignment between identified features of high-quality care and parents' priorities in their most recent childcare searches, though parents focused less on structured learning opportunities when discussing childcare priorities and more on practical features of care. Most features of care discussed by parents are included in Maryland's Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), though some of the specific elements parents cited are not included. Findings from this study could be used to inform marketing and design of consumer-education campaigns, QRIS, and survey development.

Keywords:

• childcare decision-making
• priorities
• high-quality care

Acknowledgments

This paper was produced as part of a Cooperative Agreement with the State of Maryland. Funding for this study was provided through the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services. The contents of this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, the Administration for Children and Families, or the US Department of Health and Human Services. The authors would like to thank our partners at the Maryland State Department of Education, Dr Rolf Grafwallner and Ms. Elizabeth Kelley, the Regional Economic Studies Institute, Dr John Spears, the focus group participants, and the following individuals who provided useful feedback on earlier versions of this paper: Dr Martha Zaslow, Dr Kathryn Tout, Ms. Grace Howarth, and Ms. Paula Daneri.

Notes on contributors

Nicole Forry obtained a Master's in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. in Family Studies from the University of Maryland at College Park. Dr Forry's research has focused on the association between childcare subsidies and families' financial well-being; disparities in children's development; childcare decision-making; and characteristics of high-quality care and how such care predicts to child and family outcomes. [email protected], 240-223-9235, 7315 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 1200 West, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.

Shana Simkin is currently a first-year Couple and Family Therapy master's student at the University of Maryland. She previously worked as a senior research assistant at Child Trends, a nonprofit research organization focused on issues affecting children and their families. Her research and clinical interests include resiliency, family communication, emotional intelligence, and relationship dynamics. [email protected], 301-405-3672, 1142 School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.

Edyth J. Wheeler has been an Early Childhood Education faculty member at Towson University since 1996. She has also spent 11 years working with young children as a teacher and director of one of the first NAEYC accredited programs in Virginia. Dr Wheeler earned her M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Education with a focus on Early Childhood at George Mason University. [email protected], 410-704-2460, 8000 York Road, Towson, MD 21252-0001, USA.

Allison M. Bock is currently a graduate student in the Applied Developmental Psychology Ph.D. program at George Mason University. She earned her M.S. in Developmental Psychology at Illinois State University and B.A. at Christopher Newport University. [email protected], 703-993-1384, 4400 University Drive, 3F5, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA.

Notes

1. It should be noted that though two focus group participants were native Spanish speakers, all participants were fluent and literate in English.

2. Quality standards included in Maryland's QRIS are available on the Maryland Start Department of Education website (http://www.msde.maryland.gov/).