Peer-reviewed article
Mothers' Work Schedules and Children's Participation in Center-Based Early Care and Education: The Role of Publicly Funded Early Care and Education Programs.
Pilarz AR, Walther AK ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examines how publicly funded early care and education programs affect children's participation in center-based care, particularly for families where mothers work non-standard schedules. Using national survey data, researchers found that public spending on early care programs increased center-based participation among young children regardless of whether their mothers worked standard or non-standard work hours. The results suggest that these programs help reduce participation gaps between children of mothers with different work schedules.
Key points
- Public ECE spending was associated with higher rates of center-based ECE participation among children whose mothers worked both standard and nonstandard schedules
- Among 3-4-year-old children, gaps in center-based ECE participation between nonstandard and standard schedule workers were small or nonexistent at high levels of ECE spending
- Low-income mothers working nonstandard schedules are more likely to use informal care, creating a barrier to center-based ECE participation
- Publicly funded ECE programs (child-care subsidies, Head Start, public pre-kindergarten) can increase participation across different maternal work schedules
Limitations
The study uses observational data from a survey and examines associations rather than causal effects, so we cannot definitively conclude that ECE programs cause increased participation. The research does not measure child developmental outcomes or the quality of ECE received, only participation rates.
Abstract
A key goal of publicly funded early care and education programs (ECE) programs-i.e., child-care subsidy, Head Start, and public pre-kindergarten programs-is to increase children in low-income families' participation in high-quality and center-based ECE in order to improve children's development and reduce income-based disparities in child outcomes. Yet, one reason why low-income children might be less likely to participate in center-based ECE than their higher-income counterparts is because their mothers are more likely to work a nonstandard schedule, and these programs typically operate on a daytime weekday schedule. Although publicly funded ECE programs have increased participation in center-based ECE among children from low-income families, it is unknown whether these effects are concentrated among children whose mothers work a standard schedule or also translate to children whose mothers work nonstandard schedules. In this study, we used data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to estimate associations between public spending on ECE programs and children's participation in center-based ECE, focusing on heterogeneity by mothers' work schedules. We found that public ECE spending was associated with higher rates of center-based ECE participation among young children whose mothers worked standard and nonstandard schedules. Among 3-4-year-old children, gaps in center-based ECE participation between children whose mother worked a nonstandard versus standard schedule were small or nonexistent at high levels of ECE spending. Our findings suggest that publicly funded ECE programs increase low-income children's center-based ECE participation regardless of mothers' work timing.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Publicly funded early care and education programs including child-care subsidies, Head Start, and public pre-kindergarten programs
- Population
- Low-income children aged 0-4 and their families, stratified by maternal work schedules
Key finding
Public ECE spending associated with higher center-based ECE participation for children of mothers working standard schedules
AR et al. · Europe PMC · 28 Jul 2026