Using Child Care Services: Families with Disabled Children in Nonmetropolitan Areas

Abstract

Little information is available about how rural families with disabled young children use child care services. This study, drawing data from the 1991 National Household Education Survey, examined the child care arrangement by these families. The total sample, representative to the national population of households with children aged 3 to 5, consists of 7,655 households, including 380 cases with disabled children. Our analysis found: (a) the prevalence of early childhood disabilities is higher among families in nonmetropolitan areas than it is in metro areas; (b) nonmetro families fare less well socio-economically relative to metro families; (c) rural residence, however, does not directly relate to disadvantage of arranging child care (including center-based care, relative-proved care, nonrelative-providedcare, and parents' own care); (d) holding other factors equal, nonmetro families are more likely to receive nonrelative-provided care; and (e) two strong interaction effects: the effect between the rural locale and poverty limits the use of center-based care and increases parents' own care; whereas the effect between the rural residence and single mother household increases the use of center-based care and reduces parents' own care.