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Queralt, M., & Witte, A.D. (1999). Childcare regulations: a method to pursue social welfare goals? Children and Youth Services Review, 21(2), 111-146.
This study explored the potential impact of regulation on child care. The authors questioned whether regulation benefits child care or stymies growth and competition.
The Study
- There is a pattern of regulation development in social services as a substitute for direct provision of services or funding.
- In child care, regulation affects family child care and child care centers. It is unclear as to whether these regulations are followed and whether they achieve their intended goals.
- Public regulations ensure that non-parental care has health and safety guidelines whereas, professional regulations may hold caregivers to higher standards.
- Some research indicated that if regulations become too strident for a particular age group, child care providers move away from caring for that age group. This can affect supply, demand, and cost.
- Also, decisions made by public officials, providers, and parents affect supply, demand, and cost.
The Methods
- The authors designed a series of questions to measure based on regulations in either child care centers or family child care settings.
- Data were gleaned from large national surveys and the U.S. Census.
The Findings
- There is a statistical relationship between the allowable number of children in family child care and the number of children in center care.
- State and local regulations on the number of children in care had no significant relationship to the actual child/staff ratios in center care.
- Overall, regulation in one type of child care can significantly affect other types of child care.
R2P Evaluation
The research in this study is one of the first attempts to measure government policies against actual work in family or center based child care settings. The findings should be used to educate policy makers and child care providers.
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