Data on childcare have been collected within various topical sections of the NLSY79 questionnaires. The main data collection on types of childcare arrangements, discussed in detail below, occurred during the 1982-86, 1988, 1992, and 1994-2014 surveys. Starting with the 2016 survey, childcare data were no longer gathered, due to the age of the sample.

A range of both retrospective and cross-sectional (past four weeks) childcare information is available in the NLSY79. The mother-report child care sections from the NLSY79 provide the types of current childcare arrangements used for each child in the household, a retrospective of childcare experiences during the first three years of life for all children (of at least 1 year of age) born to the respondent, and in some survey years, the overall family expenditure for current care.

Retrospective

Retrospective data were gathered during the 1986, 1988, 1992 and 1994-2014 survey years for up to three childcare arrangements used by NLSY79 mothers for each of their children during the first three years of life. For each year, mothers were asked about whether the child lived with them and, if so, whether that child was in child care. If so, questions about specific child care arrangements during that year of the child's life were asked about. (While childcare information was not collected in the 1990 NLSY79 survey round, it was updated in 1992.)

The data about childcare in the first three years of life have been concatenated into cross-round variables that allow users to study the use of child care during each child's first 3 years of life. For each of the first three years of life for each child there is a variable indicating whether or not that child was in child care during their first year or why this information is unavailable (i.e., the child did not live with the mother, the child or the mother was deceased, the mother was part of a dropped sample type, etc.) If the child was in childcare for a given year, there are variables for up to 3 types of arrangements and the number of months spent in each arrangement.

Cross-Sectional

Current childcare information was first asked in the 1982 survey about the youngest and next youngest child living in the mother’s household. In the 1983, 1984, and 1985 NLSY79 surveys, questions were asked about current child care arrangements used in the past four weeks for the youngest child by parents who were either employed, in school, or in training at the survey date. Location and type of primary and secondary care and hours of use were initially asked in 1983, and these questions were expanded in 1984 to include nature of payment and grandmother care. Location, type, payment, detail on group arrangements, and hypothetical care are available for 1985. In both 1984 and 1985, respondents who are not currently employed but who have an employed spouse report limited information on location and type of care.

In both 1986 and 1988, NLSY79 mothers are asked a limited number of questions about current child care arrangements for all of their children living in the household.

The retrospective information collected in 1986 and the current child care information collected between 1984 and 1988 relate to different universes of children and utilize different child care definitions. Additional child care information was also collected in the 1982 and 1983 NLSY79 surveys.

There are marked differences in the universes of respondents, reference children, kinds of questions asked, and reference periods across survey years (see Table 1 below). Universes of respondents vary widely both within and across survey years, from respondents--both male and female--engaged in some educational or labor market pursuit, to all women with a child in the household, to not-employed respondents with an employed spouse. The focus during the initial survey years was on collecting information on childcare arrangements used over the past month for only the youngest child(ren) in the household.

• A limited number of childcare questions, fielded within the 1987, 1989, and 1990 fertility series, obtained information from select universes on:
  • Whether respondents made use of regular childcare arrangement
  • Whether respondents encountered childcare problems that affected their employment
  • The extent of responsibility for childcare assumed by female respondents during recent pregnancies
• Out-of-the-labor-force respondents could specify within various sections of the yearly questionnaires, such as the 1980-98 "CPS or Current Labor Force Status" or 1979-2014, "Periods not Working" sections, that lack of available childcare or family responsibilities was a reason they were not looking for work or did not want a job now

In addition, information on whether childcare services were provided as a supportive service through Federally funded government employment and training programs was gathered during the 1979-87 surveys. For those respondents residing in households with children under age 14, the special 1981 "Household Chore and Childcare" time use survey provides information on the amount of responsibility for providing childcare at home and actual time spent on a given day in specific childcare tasks. The Fringe Benefits section of this guide details the collection of information on childcare as a benefit made available by employers of NLSY79 respondents. Finally, a special experimental Childcare Supplement, administered to 347 NLSY79 mothers who were interviewed during the first month of the 1989 fielding, collected a wide range of information, including data on every childcare arrangement used for at least 10 hours per week since the date of last interview. Researchers interested in the 1989 special childcare supplement data should contact NLS User Services. A report evaluating the quality of various childcare data items is available from CHRR (Mott and Baker 1992).

Types and Locations of Childcare Arrangements

Data on types and locations of childcare arrangements are available for the 1982-86, 1988, 1992, and 1994-2014 survey years. Typical categories of childcare arrangements include self-care; care by relatives (the child's other parent, a step-parent, siblings, or grandparents); care by nonrelatives; and care provided by institutions such as day care centers, nurseries, or preschools. Information on care provided by individuals usually differentiates between that occurring in the child's home and that occurring in another private home. Information was gathered during select survey years (1983-86 and 1988) on both primary and secondary childcare arrangements.

Additional Characteristics of Childcare Arrangements: In addition, supplementary information has been collected during certain survey years on the number of hours that childcare services were required/provided, the nature of the payments (cash or noncash), total cost per child/per provider, and the effect of available childcare services on such activities as employment, job search, and training.

Table 1. Child Care Questions: 1982-2014 NLSY79 Surveys Including the Special 1989 Child Care Supplement

Comparison to Other NLS Cohorts: Childcare history in the first three years is on the NLSY79 Child Data File. The NLSY97 Parent Questionnaire collected information from one of the youth's biological parents or another household adult on background information including childcare. An expanded set of NLSY97 childcare questions was asked in select rounds. In some years the Young Women and Mature Women answered questions concerning types and locations of childcare arrangements and the extent of childcare responsibility. For more precise details about the content of each survey, consult the appropriate cohort's User's Guide using the tabs above for more information.

References

Mott, Frank L. and Baker, Paula. "Evaluation of the 1989 Child Care Supplement in the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth." Discussion Paper 92-6. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.