Limited Spending on Child Care Subsidies and Strict Welfare Policies: A Risky Combination for School-Age Children?

Kathryn Hynes, Pennsylvania State University
Kaylin Greene, Pennsylvania State University

This project examines whether states’ expenditures on child care subsidies interact with their welfare policies to impact school-age children and their families. We hypothesize that states with limited spending on child care subsidies and strict welfare policies may encourage maternal employment even if this increases children's exposure to self-care. To test this hypothesis, we estimate a series of models examining the effects of within-state changes in child care subsidy expenditures and welfare policies on maternal employment and school-age children’s exposure to self-care. Our analyses rely on the 1997 – 2002 rounds of the National Survey of America’s Families, a critical period in which states were simultaneously expanding funding for child care subsidies and tightening their welfare policies.