Child Care Used by Working Women in the AFDC Population: An Analysis of the SIPP Data Base

This paper presents the Survey of Income and Program Participation data on child care for working guardians on AFDC. These guardians use care by relatives 58% of the time for their youngest children under 6. They are thus using informal care arrangements which are generally free or low cost instead of more formal arrangements, for which one generally must pay. As expected from this pattern of usage, the data show they pay less often for child care. In addition, when they do pay, they pay less money than non-AFDC recipients, averaging $22.50 per week. Because the sample of working guardians on AFDC is very similar to the SIPP's sample of non-working AFDC recipients, the authors expect that these data can help work/welfare program planners in determining child care requirements for new initiatives encouraging AFDC recipients to work. Arguments are presented to suggest that about half of new program participants will choose relative care, and that the amount participants will need to cover their payments for care will be similar to current expenditures. [17 PDF pages]