Finding Quality Child Care a Tough Task

More than a generation after women began returning to the work force in earnest, securing quality child care remains an elusive goal for many California families. Yet they still are leery of government intervention in an area so closely tied to their private lives, a new Los Angeles Times poll has found.

Californians strongly support tax credits--rather than government-paid providers--to help with child care. And about half of Californians believe it is “very important” for employers to help their workers find affordable, high-quality child care.

In a finding that underscores the stresses of balancing work and family, almost a quarter of working mothers said they feel “very guilty” about returning to work, while 32% feel “somewhat” guilty.

The “very guilty” percentage soared to 51% among mothers of children younger than 2, who view their infants and toddlers as more vulnerable than older children, the survey found.

“Going to work for most parents is a necessity--they have to work--but they are absolutely torn about putting their child in child care,” said Times Poll Director Susan Pinkus. “Finding good, affordable child care can be difficult and traumatic.”

As the poll demonstrates, difficulties in finding affordable and high-quality child care are epidemic. Of those surveyed, 82% said it is difficult to extremely difficult for families to find an appropriate place for their children.

The judgments were more negative from women, who the poll shows still bear most of the burden for arranging child care. Thirty-five percent of mothers said affordable, high-quality care is “extremely difficult” to find.

While 50% of parents said mothers and fathers jointly make child care decisions, 41% said the mother alone carries the responsibility. Fathers were more apt to say the division of effort is equal--60% to 29%--while mothers feel they bear the load, with 42% saying it is equal and 51% saying it is theirs alone.

Denice Barr, a 34-year-old respondent and mother of three from Alameda, recalled taking her children to substandard child care facilities because, as a college student, she was “desperate just to go to school.”

“I lay quite a bit of guilt on myself,” she said. “Sometimes I even ask the kids to forgive me.”

Nearly four in 10 children younger than 5 are in child care, according to the respondents. But the care their parents have settled for appears far less personal that they wish. Two-thirds of respondents said that leaving their child with a relative would be the best arrangement, but when asked where their children are cared for, fewer than one in 10 said they have that sort of arrangement.

Asked whether they believe government should provide child care for families who cannot otherwise afford it or if it should instead provide tax credits, the less intrusive option proves far more popular.

Sixty percent of California parents favored credits, while fewer than half that--28%--said they would prefer government child care. Nonparents are more supportive than parents about government care, with 36% of nonparents supporting it to 25% of parents.

Fathers are less supportive of government care, at 20%, than are mothers, at 30%.

The only parents who are evenly split on the issue are single working mothers with children under 18, arguably the most in need of child care options. Among them, 46% supported government care and 48% favored tax credits.

Buttressing that endorsement of tax credits, the respondents also said they back a tax break for families where one parent stays at home to care for children under age 5. Support for that ran about 4-1 among all respondents.

Given all the priorities of government, child care is not seen by many as the highest goal.

Asked what kind of priority government should give to tax breaks for child care, 11% said it should be the top goal, with 29% saying it should be a “high” priority and 37% giving it “some” priority.

President Clinton’s recently announced $22-billion program to expand child care options for American parents wins general support. Among Californians, 41% said it is the right amount of money to spend, 13% said it is too little and 11% said it was too much. One in five, or 19%, said government should not be involved in child care.

But there was the strong yearning for employers to become involved. In all, 46% of Californians said it was “very important” that employers help their workers find affordable, high-quality child care. Another 32% said it was “somewhat” important.

The more immediate their need, the more important Californians think child care should be for employers: Among parents of children under 18, 48% said it is very important for employers to help their employees in this arena.

A significant solution to the child-care puzzle for some parents is after-school care.

Among parents, about two-thirds, or 64%, said it is very important for schools to provide child care--but only 47% said their child’s school does so. Mothers find it more important, with nearly three-fourths declaring child care a very important adjunct to the schools and 20% calling it somewhat important.

But in the views of the poll respondents the existing school programs could use some improvement. Among parents, only 32%, about one-third, said the quality of school child care programs is excellent or good, while 20% said it is fair or poor.

Respondents made clear that the melding of family responsibilities and work is anything but smooth.

Thirty-one percent said they often worry about getting time off from work to care for their children. The worry is heightened among parents of younger children; 37% of those with children under age 5 said they worry often about being able to aid their children, while a smaller 22% of parents of children age 14-17 had the same concern.

Those making less money were inclined to say they could not afford to take the time off. Among those living in households that make less than $20,000 annually, half said they could not afford to leave work. Among those in households making more than $60,000, only 19% said they couldn’t afford it.

More of the affluent felt pressure from their employers to keep working. Among those in households making $20,000 or less, for example, 28% said they do not take off because they are not allowed to do so; a slightly higher 35% of those in households making more than $60,000 are in the same boat.

There was a distinct gender gap as well. While one-third of both men and women said they could not take time off work because of the financial drain, the sexes diverge when it comes to their employers’ demands. Only 20% of men said they were not allowed to take off work, while twice the percentage--41%--of women said they were similarly constrained.

Often, the need to adequately care for a child had an even more stark impact on a job: Twenty-two percent of women and 7% of men said the task of finding or keeping child care had prevented them from taking a particular job.

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Child Care in California

Who should be primarily responsible for making sure that families have access to affordable child care?

All Parents

Parents themselves: 49%

Government: 18%

All (Volunteered): 16%

Employers: 14%

Don’t know: 3%

*

Working Parents

Parents themselves: 45%

Government: 20%

All (Volunteered): 18%

Employers: 14%

Don’t know: 3%

Source: Times Poll

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Child Care Poll

How difficult is it for families in your area to find affordable, high-quality child care?

Extremely difficult

Working Parents: 28%

Very difficult

Working Parents: 30%

Somewhat difficult

Working Parents: 26%

Not very difficult

Working Parents: 7%

Not difficult at all

Working Parents: 3%

Don’t know

Working Parents: 6%

Asked of parents in the work force who have children under the age of 18:

How often do you worry about getting time off from work to care for your child?

Don’t know: 1%

Almost never: 44%

From time to time: 24%

Very often: 16%

Somewhat often: 15%

Asked of parents in the work force who have children under the age of 18:

Have you ever wanted to take time off from work to care for your child but were unable to do so?

Don’t know: 2%

Yes: 36%

No: 62%

If so, what prevented you from taking time off?

(Top two responses shown)

Could not afford to: 34%

Not allowed to by employer: 30%

Asked of women in the work force who have children under the age of 18:

Many women report feeling guilty about returning to work and putting their children in child or day care, while others doubt their deciion. Did you feel guilty about putting your child in child care or not?

Very guilty: 23%

Somewhat guilty: 32%

Not too guilty: 10%

Not guilty at all: 21%

Don’t have child in child / day care (Volunteered): 13%

Don’t know: 1%

Note: Numbers may not total 100% because of rounding or when not all answer categories are shown.

Source: L.A. Times Poll

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How the Poll Was Conducted

The Times Poll contacted 2,021 adults statewide by telephone April 25 through May 1. The sample includes 1,601 parents, of whom 334 have children under the age of 5 and 476 have children between the ages of 5 and 13. Telephone numbers were chosen from a list of all exchanges in the state. Random-digit dialing techniques were used so that listed and unlisted numbers could be contacted. The entire sample was weighted slightly to conform with census figures for sex, race, age, education and region. The margin of sampling error for the entire sample and for all parents is plus or minus 3 percentage points; it is plus or minus five points for the parents of children under the age of 5 and for the parents of children between the ages of 5 and 13. For other subgroups the error margin may vary. Poll results can also be affected by other factors, such as question wording and the order in which questions are presented. The survey was conducted in English and Spanish.