Child Care: Family Support, Welfare : and Education? / Marijean Suelzle and Others.

The relative importance of family support, welfare, and educational factors as determinants of the child care decision making process was examined through unstructured interviews with parents whose children were enrolled in a variety of child care programs in Evanston, Illinois. Child care arrangements examined included nursery schools, family day care homes, centers operated by voluntary associations, and day care centers operated by the community and state. Parents were interviewed in groups of two to five persons in a four-week period. Data from nine group interviews involving 33 people indicated that family support factors predominated in terms of importance. Parents' decisions regarding choice of child care programs were highly influenced by the belief that both parents and children need multiple relationships outside the nuclear family. Cost, convenience (location and transportation), and hours of operation were of secondary importance to the type of family support environment desired. Parents sought a learning environment which would assist children in developing a degree of social competence appropriate for their ages and stages of development. Cognitively oriented programs with uniform prescribed sets of activities were clearly not desired. Parents desired a social environment comprised of a sexually, racially, and economically balanced group. It is suggested that the qualities desired by parents in the programs selected be utilized for focusing on policy issues to be addressed in the future. (CM)

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