BALANCING WORK AND FAMILY: THE POLICY PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF CHILD CARE AND NONSTANDARD WORK SCHEDULES

对于数百万参与美国经济的工人来说，他们的常规或次要工作班次主要发生在传统工作时间之外，包括晚上、夜间、轮换、不定期和/或周末轮班。非标准和不可预测的时间表可能会对母亲的福祉、工作和家庭平衡以及儿童护理安排产生重要影响。然而，关于非标准工作时间表与母亲福祉指标之间的联系的知识并不一致或全面。关于非标准工作时间如何使低收入母亲的育儿决策过程复杂化，还需要更多的知识，而人们对非传统时期的育儿服务知之甚少。本文的三篇论文的研究方法旨在解决这些文献中的空白，具体描述如下。 非标准工作时间、母亲养育压力和育儿的调节作用 本文探讨了非标准工作时间与母亲养育压力之间的关系，特别关注了工作时间类型、母亲的关系状况和家庭收入的变化。本文还探讨了育儿安排在非标准工作时间和母亲育儿压力之间的调节作用。 非标准工作时间的母亲的育儿偏好和选择 本文试图更好地理解社会、经济和结构性因素对非标准工作时间的低收入母亲的育儿决策的作用和重要性。这篇论文将聚焦于两个非标准作息时间的低收入母亲群体：(1)没有规律作息时间的母亲和(2)没有与恋人同居的母亲。此外，本文探讨了哪些因素将使非传统时间段的中心托儿更容易获得，并对非标准工作时间的母亲更具吸引力。 德克萨斯州非传统时期以中心为基础的托儿服务的可获得性：随时间推移的供应 这篇白皮书将探索德克萨斯州学龄前及以下儿童在非传统时间内获得许可的、以中心为基础的托儿服务的可用性，描述非传统托儿时间的趋势，以及按年龄组提供的可获得性、提供者的认证/德克萨斯州新星地位以及提供者对儿童保育补贴的接受程度。为了开始探索供需之间的不匹配，本文还将非传统时间提供护理的趋势与几个相关的劳动力趋势进行了比较。 为了解决这些问题，本文采取了一种混合方法。来自脆弱家庭和儿童福祉研究、德克萨斯州儿童保育市场比率调查和劳工统计局的定量数据将与德克萨斯州奥斯汀有母亲的焦点小组的定性数据整合在一起。分析技术将包括普通最小二乘法、差异法和多项Logistic回归模型。将使用现有文献中的主题以及确定新的新兴主题来分析定性数据。

For millions of workers participating in the U.S. economy, their regular or secondary work shifts largely take place outside of traditional hours, including evening, night, rotating, irregular, and/or weekend shifts. Nonstandard and unpredictable schedules may have important implications for maternal well-being, work-family balance, and child care arrangements. However, knowledge on the association between nonstandard work schedules and indicators of maternal well-being is not consistent or comprehensive. More knowledge is needed on how nonstandard work schedules complicate the child care decision making processes of low-income mothers, and little is known about the supply of child care at nontraditional times. The research approach of the three papers in this dissertation aims to address these gaps in the literature and is described below. Nonstandard Work Schedules, Maternal Parenting Stress, and the Moderating Role of Child Care This paper explores the association between nonstandard work schedules and maternal parenting stress, with particular attention to variation by: type of work schedule, mother’s relationship status, and family income. This paper also explores the moderating role of child care arrangements between nonstandard work schedules and maternal parenting stress. Child Care Preferences and Choices for Mothers Working Nonstandard Schedules This paper seeks to better understand the role and importance of social, economic, and structural factors driving child care decisions for low-income mothers working nonstandard schedules. This paper will focus on two subpopulations of low-income mothers working nonstandard schedules: (1) mothers with irregular schedules and (2) mothers not living with a romantic partner. In addition, this paper explores what factors would make center-based child care during nontraditional hours more accessible and appealing to mothers working nonstandard schedules. Availability of Center-Based Child Care at Nontraditional Times in Texas: Supply Over Time This paper will explore the availability of licensed, center-based child care at nontraditional times for children preschool age and younger in Texas over time, describing trends on the timing of nontraditional hours of care, as well as availability by age group, accreditation/Texas Rising Star status of the provider, and the provider’s acceptance of child care subsidies. To begin to explore the mismatch between supply and demand, this paper also compares trends in the supply of care at nontraditional hours to several relevant labor force trends. To address these questions, this dissertation takes a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, Child Care Market Rate Survey in Texas, and Bureau of Labor Statistics will be integrated with qualitative data from focus groups with mothers in Austin, Texas. Analytical techniques will include ordinary least squares, difference-in-difference, and multinomial logistic regression models. Qualitative data will be analyzed using themes from existing literature as well as identifying new emerging themes.