Neighborhood Characteristics and Child Care Type and Quality

Research Findings: Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, this article relates neighborhood characteristics to the type of child care used in families with toddlers and preschoolers (N = 1, 12 1; representative of children in Chicago in 1996-1998). Neighborhood structural disadvantage was assessed via U.S. Census data, and neighborhood processes (i.e.. density of social networks, collective efficacy, and level of participation in neighborhood organizations) were accessed with a community survey. Child care decisions (i.e., whether they chose care in centers; child care homes by non-relative, by relatives, and exclusively by parents) and the quality of center child care (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised) were assessed in a longitudinal sample. After controlling for family characteristics, various neighborhood characteristics were related to child care characteristics. In communities with denser social networks, children were less likely to experience care in child care homes by unrelated adults. Children were more likely to be in child care homes and less likely to cared for by parents exclusively or by relatives when collective efficacy was higher. Center care quality was lower in disadvantaged neighborhoods and higher for publicly funded programs. Further, neighborhood structural disadvantage was more negatively related to quality when mothers had less education. Practice or Policy: These findings provide further evidence that public programs such as Head Start and public pre-kindergarten programs may be especially important to ensure that children living in poverty in disadvantaged neighborhoods have access to the types of child care that promote school readiness.