Outside school hours care and maternal employment

Jennifer Baxter and Kelly Hand

12th Australian Institute of Family Studies ConferenceMelbourne, 25-27 July 2012

Outline of presentation

Contextual information Maternal employment and school-aged children OSHC and maternal employment

Paid work and childcare: key themes from qualitative studies Employment arrangements and attitudes Child care issues & children’s perspectives

Data source – quantitative analyses Longitudinal Study of Australian Children

Analyses of maternal employment B and K cohorts, Waves 1 to 4 (2004 to 2010) Spans children’s ages 0-1 years through to 10-11 years, although data are

shown by age of youngest child Analyses of childcare

B cohorts wave 4 (age 6-7 years) K cohort waves 2 to 4 (age 6-7, 8-9, 10-11 years) After school and before school - “regular” childcare arrangements School holidays – care used in the last year

MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT

Maternal employmentHours of paid work by age of youngest child

Source: LSAC B cohort (waves 1- 4), K cohort (waves 1-4)

Maternal employmentType of employment by age of youngest child

Source: LSAC B cohort (waves 1- 4), K cohort (waves 1-4)

OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS CARE AND MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT

Source: LSAC B cohort (wave 4), K cohort (waves 3,4)

OSHC = Outside school hours care

Care arrangements by mothers’ working hours, children aged 6-11 years

Before school careby age of children and mothers’ usual weekly working hours

Source: LSAC B cohort (wave 4), K cohort (waves 3,4)

OSHC = Outside school hours care

After school careby age of children and mothers’ usual weekly working hours

Source: LSAC B cohort (wave 4), K cohort (waves 3,4)OSHC = Outside school hours care

School holiday careby age of children and mothers’ usual weekly work hours

Source: LSAC B cohort (wave 4), K cohort (waves 3,4)OSHC = Outside school hours care

Multivariate analyses

Logistic regression, child using formal outside school care

Before school; After school; School holiday

Only includes families with employed mothers

Results – mothers’ employment

Mothers’ working hours More work hours was associated with a greater likelihood of using of

before or after school care although there was some decline with longest working hours

School holiday care most likely when mothers work between 25 and 54 hours per week

Job type OSHC most likely when mothers in permanent employment, followed by

casual employment then self-employment

Results – other family characteristics Age of child

After school OSHC was highest for children aged 8-9 years and lowest for children aged 10-11 years, with children aged 6-7 years in between.

Before school OSHC was lowest for children aged 10-11 years, with do difference between children aged 6-7 and 8-9 years.

Participation in school holiday OSHC declined across the ages of children.

For each of before school, after school and school holiday care: OSHC was more likely for children of single mothers, and less likely in couples

with not-employed father, when compared to couples with employed fathers OSHC was less likely when the child has older siblings OSHC was less likely in ex-metropolitan, rather than metropolitan regions

Not-working mothersReasons for not working, by age of youngest child

Source: LSAC B cohort (waves 1- 4), K cohort (waves 1-4)

Family includes: prefer to look after children, too busy with family

Jobs includes: no jobs available, can’t find a job with enough flexibility

Childcare is can’t get suitable child care

Money/benefits includes: it’s not worthwhile with child care costs, would lose government benefits if worked

Other is likely to include ill health, disability, caring

QUALITATIVE FINDINGS

Qualitative data

Work and Family: the Family’s Perspective (W&F), 2001

The Family and Work Decisions Study (qualitative component) (FAWD), 2005

The Life Around Here Study (LAH), 2010

MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT

Employment arrangements and attitudes

Most mothers reported that once their youngest child was at school they either returned to work or study or increased their work hours

Some mothers returned to work due to external pressures such as financial reasons, pressure from partners

Activity requirements associated with their income support payments (newer theme in later research reflecting welfare reform)

Most work part time

Employment arrangements and attitudes

Some mothers did not engage in paid work once their youngest child had started school. Reasons included:

Access to appropriate child care Concerns about use of non-parental care Desire to be available to participate in child’s school life Difficulties managing sick days, school holidays etc Lack of informal care alternatives Difficulties in being able to re-enter the labour

market/access training

OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS CARE AND MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT

Managing paid work and child care

Most employed mothers work part time Many try and limit work hours to school times Some take unpaid leave during school holidays Formal before and after school care and school

holiday care - try and limit this Mix of formal and informal Informal care from family members used by many -

but can be stressful and often unstable Small number use self care or sibling care

Managing paid work and child care - barriers

Cost of child careQuality of care availableWorking outside of normal business hours

(lone mothers)Children refusing to attend child care Impacts on wellbeing of children - using

OSHC can make for a long day

OSHC: impacts on children

Some of the children get dropped off at seven o’clock in the morning and don’t get picked up until six o’clock. And that’s an awful long time at school. (FAWD, Couple mother, 3 children aged 6 to 9, neither parent employed)

He dislikes the staff. He thinks they are too strict. I think he feels like…to him it feels too much like a continuation of school…I think really his preference would be that he would rather be at home doing his own thing.(W&F, lone mother)

OSHC: children’s perspective

I don’t really like it because hardly any of my friends go and there is hardly anything to do.(F & W, boy, aged 11)

It didn’t really worry me when I was younger because I had friends there as well. But as you get older, there’s fewer friends that you can get along with – they’re all little or whatever(F & W, boy, aged 13)

Well its good and cool, but some of the teachers, one of the teachers yells too much.(F & W, girl, aged 8)

OSHC: children’s perspective

I’ve got the whole house to myself, I can do whatever I want. I suppose, just being myself.(F & W, boy, aged 11)

Um, well its like anything, once you’ve had it for a while, its not like special or anything. It’s not like good. It’s good, like I can talk to my friends and stuff privately after school, or go out sometimes without Mum knowing. Um its not like really wow, its just gives me a bit more freedom.(F & W, girl, aged 14).

Conclusion - key themes

Mothers’ views about combining parenting and paid work when their children are of primary school age are diverse

Most mothers prefer to work part time when their children attend primary school

Being available to care for sick children and accommodate school activities and school holidays are important concerns for mothers

Conclusion - key themes

Barriers to employment and/or child care use include: perceived impacts on children; quality; cost; child refusals and lack of availability of care for non-standard work hours

Acknowledgements

The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) is conducted in a partnership between the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The following researchers have also made significant contributions to the qualitative studies referred to in this presentation:

Virginia Lewis and Jacqueline Tudball (F&W) Jody Hughes (FAWD) Matthew Gray, Daryl Higgins, Shaun Lohoar and Julie Deblaquiere (LAH)

The findings are those of the authors and should not be attributed to FaHCSIA, AIFS or the ABS.

Multivariate analyses of child using formal outside school care, families with employed mothers

Source: LSAC B cohort (wave 4), K cohort (waves 3,4)OSHC = Outside school hours care

Uses before school care

Uses after school care

Uses school holiday care

  Odds ratios

Mothers’ working hours (per week), reference=<16 hours      

16-24 2.58** 2.22*** 2.30***

25-34 3.86*** 3.65*** 3.78***

35-44 4.98*** 5.17*** 3.37***

45-54 6.19*** 6.59*** 3.23***

55+ 2.87* 4.95*** 2.18***

Type of job (mothers), reference=self-employed      

Permanent 6.12*** 2.77*** 1.73***

Casual 4.61*** 1.66** 1.21

Father not employed 0.36* 0.37*** 0.64*

Single mother 1.59** 1.35** 1.69***

Age of child, reference=6-7 years      

8-9 years 1.11 1.27** 0.80**

10-11 years 0.31*** 0.36*** 0.46***

Region, reference=metropolitan      

Ex-metropolitan 0.30*** 0.50*** 0.63***

Family is poor or very poor 0.94 0.91 0.87

Child has older siblings 0.36*** 0.41*** 0.51***

Child has younger siblings 0.93 0.88 0.90