Child Care Subsidy Use and the Relationship to Parental Work and Child Care Quality in Rural Communities

The purpose of this project, funded under the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning Research and Evaluation program "Secondary Analysis of Data on Child Care," was to understand how low-income rural families use child care subsidies, the quality of care they receive, and how subsidy use is related to child outcomes and parental work conditions. The project addressed these topics with data from the Family Life Project, a unique, representative sample of rural families who were followed longitudinally from the birth of one of their children in six low-wealth counties in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Data was collected on parental employment and public assistance use, child care quality, types of care, providers' characteristics, and child development. With a more thorough understanding of these issues, researchers will be better able to tailor outreach, develop quality improvement efforts, and craft policies responsive to rural realities.