Noting that no national-level or population-based information has depicted child care use among children in immigrant families and compared their patterns of child care use with those of children of U.S.-born parents, this study sought to determine if non-maternal care is the norm for children of immigrant families in the United States. The study drew on national data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, which permitted classifying children and parents by their nativity status. The data span the period from 1989 to 1998, shortly after the 1996 welfare legislation was enacted. Specific findings about patterns of child care use among children of immigrants include the following: (1) child care arrangements vary by immigrant and by generational status, as well as the national origins (including ethnicity), and poverty status of the families; (2) children in immigrant families are less likely to use center-based care than those in non-immigrant families; (3) kin care was found to be the most commonly occurring primary and secondary care arrangements among preschoolers in immigrant families in the five states where most children in immigrant families reside, second-generation children (U.S. born with at least one foreign-born parent) are more likely to use kin care than third-generation children (native-born children with native-born parents); (4) although not the case for Black children, Mexican, Asian, and White children in immigrant families are less likely to use center-based care compared to their non-immigrant peers–this difference persists for children of Mexican descent when both parents and children are born in the U.S., and these Mexican American children are far less likely to use center-based care than Asian, White, and Black children whose parents are U.S.-born; (5) children in immigrant families originating in Mexico and Asian countries are underrepresented in center-based care compared with their representation in the population; (6) economic resources of immigrant families are related to costs of and time in center-based care; and (7) based on hourly rates paid by families for non-relative or center-based care, it appears that out-of-pocket child care costs or immigrant families’ household budgets is considerably higher than that for non-immigrant families’ households. In general, these findings suggest that immigrant families of different national or ethnic origins take different pathways in adapting to raising their children in new social and work conditions. (Contains 57 references.) (Author/HTH) (ERIC No. ED473708)
