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

对于参与美国经济的数百万工人来说，他们的常规或次要工作班次主要在传统时间之外进行，包括晚上，夜间，轮班，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产妇的福祉，工作与家庭的平衡和儿童保育安排产生重要影响。然而，关于非标准工作时间表与产妇福祉指标之间的关系的知识并不一致或全面。需要更多的知识，如何非标准的工作时间表复杂的儿童保育决策过程中的低收入母亲，和鲜为人知的是，在非传统时期的儿童保育供应。本论文的三篇论文的研究方法旨在解决文献中的这些空白，并在下文中进行了描述。 非标准工作时间表、母亲养育压力和儿童保育的调节作用 本文探讨了非标准的工作时间表和母亲养育压力之间的关联，特别注意的变化：工作时间表的类型，母亲的关系状态，和家庭收入。本文还探讨了非标准的工作时间表和母亲养育压力之间的儿童保育安排的调节作用。 非标准时间表工作的母亲的儿童保育偏好和选择 本文旨在更好地了解社会，经济和结构性因素的作用和重要性，推动儿童保育的决定，为低收入的母亲工作非标准的时间表。本文将关注两个非标准时间表工作的低收入母亲亚群：（1）不规则时间表的母亲和（2）不与浪漫伴侣生活在一起的母亲。此外，本文探讨了什么因素会使中心为基础的儿童保育在非传统的时间更容易和吸引力的母亲工作非标准的时间表。 德克萨斯州非传统时期基于中心的儿童保育的可用性：随着时间的推移供应 本文将探讨持牌，以中心为基础的儿童保育在非传统的时间为学龄前儿童和青少年在得克萨斯州随着时间的推移，描述趋势的时间非传统的照顾，以及可用性的年龄组，认证/得克萨斯州上升星星状态的供应商，和供应商的接受儿童保育补贴。为了开始探索供需之间的不匹配，本文还比较了非传统时间的护理供应趋势与几个相关的劳动力趋势。 为了解决这些问题，本文采用了混合方法。来自脆弱家庭和儿童福利研究、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来自德克萨斯州奥斯汀市母亲焦点小组的定性数据相结合。分析技术将包括普通最小二乘法、差分法和多项逻辑回归模型。将使用现有文献中的主题以及确定新出现的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.