Minnesota child care choices: Families' employment patterns and child care-related work disruptions

One of the aims of the Minnesota Child Care Choices study is to explore the factors that influence child care stability and parents’ employment outcomes. This Research Brief looks at the work experiences of parents in the study and the connections between child care and work. In particular, this Research Brief explores how problems with child care affect—and in some cases disrupt—parents’ work.

While the entire sample consists of 323 parents, this brief focuses on a few different sub-samples. The first is the group of respondents who report working for pay in the past week (N=136). The second is the group of respondents who are considered to be labor force participants (N=282). The last group is respondents who report experiencing problems with their child care over the past four months that have caused them to make alternative child care arrangements, regardless of employment or labor force participation status in the week leading up to the survey (N=102). (author abstract)