Parent factors influencing child care selection

A substantial body of literature has examined aspects of child care quality, and fewer studies have looked at selection factors for child care arrangements. No studies to date have examined the potential relationship between parents' views and beliefs on early childhood development or child care and subsequent child care arrangement selected. This dissertation takes advantage of a large-scale dataset available in California to examine the selection factors which may influence child care arrangements.;In 2001, a parent survey (n = 4,801) on early care and education was conducted in California. Bivariate analyses, linear regression, multinomial logistic regression, and canonical correlations were used to answer research questions regarding the effects of demographic variables on child care selection, the effects of parents' views on early childhood development and child care on child care selection, and how these parental views may mediate the association between demographic factors and child care selection.;This dissertation describes the disparities that exist in child care arrangements among less acculturated Hispanics, primarily because of their socio-economic status but also perhaps because of their inherent beliefs toward early childhood development. The results also demonstrate that the most important factors contributing to selection of child care arrangement are the child's age, size of the household, and household income, but this study also demonstrates that parental views and beliefs can mediate some of the effects of the size of the household and household income in certain selection comparisons. Finally, the parental views on early childhood development and child care are linked with certain specific relationships that can be helpful to educator and policymakers when formulating policies and programs geared toward improving the early education of young children.