Grandparents as Child Care Providers : Factors to Consider When Designing Child Care Policies
Formal child care services can expand women's economic opportunities and promote equity through early childhood development. However, academics and policy makers often overlook the role of relatives as child care providers. This note discusses...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/12/17069081/grandparents-child-care-providers-factors-consider-designing-child-care-policies http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17056 |
| Summary: | Formal child care services can expand
women's economic opportunities and promote equity
through early childhood development. However, academics and
policy makers often overlook the role of relatives as child
care providers. This note discusses how grandparent-provided
child care can be factored into child care policies in the
context of Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) countries, omitting the role of relatives
when estimating costs and benefits of child care programs
can give biased and incomplete results that might even
reverse certain programs. The focus of this note is on the
opportunity cost of relatives particularly grandparents who
care for children. Not just governments spend on child care
programs grandparents spend considerable time caring for
grandchildren. Depending on their labor market status and
work history, grandparents' opportunity cost could be
high or low; governments should factor in such costs when
evaluating programs. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom
are experimenting with policies that formally support
grandparent-provided child care. |
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