CHOICES IN CHILD-CARE - MOTHERS, FATHERS OR NON-PARENTAL CARE

This article examines the division of child care among mothers, father s, and non-parental care providers during the hours when at least one parent is at work using a constraint-driven approach. Data collected i n 1993 among 405 Dutch two-parent families with pre-school children sh ow that the mothers' potential wage rate, the number of children, and the norms of the households' networks were the most important factors in explaining this division. The availability of institutionalized chi ld care and the parents' judgement of the quality of this type of non- parental care affected the mothers' share in child care. Households in a traditional and in a modern environment proved to be similarly affe cted by financial incentives (such as wages and prices of nonparental care). Further research that includes more information, for example on norms, would provide greater insight into the division of child care.