Given the highly devolved nature of the U.S. child care subsidy system, recent studies have devoted considerable attention to exploring family-level correlates of subsidy receipt. However, most studies in this literature are limited in two respects. First, by focusing exclusively on the characteristics of recipients, previous research has neglected a group with important policy implications: eligible non-recipients of child care subsidies. Second, previous work compares recipient households to a heterogeneous population of non-recipients, many of whom are ineligible for child care assistance. This paper provides the first detailed examination of eligible non-recipients of child care subsidies, and uses this group to make more appropriate comparisons to those receiving benefits. Using data from the 2002 National Survey of America's Families, I begin by simulating states' eligibility rules for 2001. Although many of the differences between recipients and non-recipients disappear when the analysis is limited to eligible households, a number of key differences persist. With eligibility status serving as a de facto control for financial need and preferences for work, I argue that many of the remaining differences between recipients and non-recipients are due to rationing by states, low parental awareness of benefits, and difficulties navigating the subsidy system.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Volume (Year): 30 (2008) Issue (Month): 9 (September) Pages: 1037-1054 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
(with abstract),
plain text
(with abstract),
BibTeX,
RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite),
ReDIF
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Heidi Boesdal).
Related research
Keywords:
Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)