State Child Care Profile for Children with Employed Mothers: Massachusetts

State Child CareProfile for Childrenwith EmployedMothers:MassachusettsKathleen SnyderGina Adams01-18February2001An Urban InstituteProgram to AssessChanging Social Policies Assessing the New FederalismAssessing the New Federalism is a multiyear Urban Institute project designed toanalyze the devolution of responsibility for social programs from the federal governmentto the states. It focuses primarily on health care, income security, employment andtraining programs, and social services. Researchers monitor program changes andfiscal developments. Alan Weil is the project director. In collaboration with ChildTrends, the project studies changes in family well-being. The project provides timely,nonpartisan information to inform public debate and to help state and localdecisionmakers carry out their new responsibilities more effectively.Key components of the project include a household survey, studies of policies in 13states, and a database with information on all states and the District of Columbia.Publications and database are available free of charge on the Urban Institute's Website: http://www.urban.org. This paper is one in a series of discussion papers analyzinginformation from these and other sources.This paper received special funding from the MacArthur Foundation. Additional fundingcame from The Annie E. Casey Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The RobertWood Johnson Foundation, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, The FordFoundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T.MacArthur Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, The McKnightFoundation, The Commonwealth Fund, the Stuart Foundation, the WeingartFoundation, The Fund for New Jersey, The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, theJoyce Foundation, and The Rockefeller Foundation.The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topicsworthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors andshould not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, its funders, or other authorsin the series.The authors thank Natalya Bolshun, Sarah Adelman, N'Kenge Gibson, JeffreyCapizzano, Linda Giannarelli, Alan Weil, and Freya Sonenstein for their help.Publisher: The Urban Institute, 2100 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037Copyright © 2001.Permission is granted for reproduction of this document, with attribution to the UrbanInstitute. Assessing the New Federalism 1 STATE CHILD CARE PROFILE FOR CHILDREN WITH EMPLOYED MOTHERS1: MASSACHUSETTS Data from the 1997 National Survey of America’s Families2 Child care is a critical issue for families, particularly for families with working parents. The large number of mothers in the workforce has made America’s families more dependent on nonparental care and raised public awareness of early care and education as a subject of policy concern. In Massachusetts, 68 percent of mothers with children younger than 13 were employed in 1997 (table 1). These parents must decide who will care for their children while they work. This report3 provides data on • The types of child care arrangements families use • The number of child care arrangements families use • The hours children spend in child care • The amount families spend on child care These data reflect the choices that families make, but not the extent to which these choices reflect parental preferences (e.g., whether families are using the care options they want) or parental constraints (e.g., whether they cannot find or afford options they prefer). Data tables 2-7 are at the end of the profile. TABLE 1. Percentage of Employed Mothers in Massachusetts and the United States, by Age of Child Percentage of Mothers Who Are Employed, by Age of Child MA US (%) (%) Age of Child4 Under 5 63 57 Between 6 and 12 68 66 Under 13 68 63 Source: Data from the 1997 National Survey of America’s Families. Assessing the New Federalism 2 Massachusetts Key Facts Child care in Massachusetts for children younger than 5 with employed mothers • More than three out of five mothers with children under 5 are employed. • More than two-thirds of children under 5 with employed parents are in a form of nonparental child care such as center-based care, family child care, or relative care. • More than one-quarter of children under 5 with employed mothers are in full-time (35 hours or more per week) nonparental care. • More than two out of five children under 5 who have an employed mother