Profiling child care arrangements and outcomes over time: Analysis of data from three waves of “Growing Up in Australia”: LSAC

Abstract

This presentation explores child care usage, using cluster analysis to profile three main categories of child care users and care arrangements. Data from the 'Growing Up in Australia', the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children' (LSAC) were analysed for variables concerning amount and type of child care, socio-demographic characteristics and psychosocial characteristics of parents and children, and reasons for and satisfaction with child care arrangements. The child care profiles are also compared across 3 waves of the LSAC data, which shows the profiles remain stable even as the children grow older.