Child Care Histories of Low-Income Families in the U.S.

Auh, Seongyeon

doi:2010.48.6.103

J. Korean Home Econ. Assoc > Volume 48(6); 2010 > Article

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association 2010;48(6):103-118. doi: https://doi.org/10.6115/khea.2010.48.6.103

Child Care Histories of Low-Income Families in the U.S.

Seongyeon Auh

Department of Family Welfare, Chung-Ang University

Corresponding Author: Seongyeon Auh ,Tel: +82-31-670-4838, Fax: +82-31-675-1385, Email: sauh@cau.ac.kr

Received: April 30, 2010; Revised: May 3, 2010 Accepted: June 4, 2010.

ABSTRACT

This study used qualitative data to examine how low-income families confront the child care needs of their children in the midst of changes in public policy. The data were drawn from in-home interviews conducted every 6 months with 22 mothers who were welfare-dependent at the start of the research. This research depicted several life stories of the circumstances of poor children that have not had much previous attention in the literature: the general flows and the special conditions of child care among the low-income families with or without a disabled child were reported. The results in this study suggested that enabling families, through both social support and public funding, find affordable and quality child care would be one pathway to foster self-sufficiency in these families.

Keywords: qualitative study, longitudinal studies, low-income families, child care, self-sufficiency, child care of the families with a disabled child