The New Economy and Child Care: Nonstandard-Hour Work, Child Care, and Child Health and Well-Being

Public child care assistance programs can offer a critical safety net for low-income working parents with nonstandard hours by helping them afford quality child care; however, interviews of state child care administrators revealed that more can be done to better help these families, including offering sufficient informal child care options that meet their needs. The study also found that most state child care agencies admittedly do not have a complete picture of the existing supply of child care available during nonstandard work hours or the extent to which that care is subsidized for low-income families.