Family Configurations and Child‐Care Patterns: Familes with Two or More Preschool‐Age Children

Objectives. This article examines the extent to which mothers must find child‐care arrangements for more than one preschool child and, when they do, the strategies they adopt to juggle their work and family roles. Methods. We use national data from numerous studies with information on fertility and child care among employed mothers with children. Results. We find that it is a common life‐course experience for mothers to need child care for two or more preschool‐age children. Employed mothers’ preferred strategy for child care for their multiple preschool‐age children is to place all preschoolers in the same type of arrangement, choosing parental care more often and center care less often than employed mothers with one preschooler. Conclusions. Previous child‐care research has ignored the complexities parents face when they must make child‐care decisions about all their preschool‐age children simultaneously. Child‐care decisions need to be studied within the family and household context.