Latent profile analysis of toddler parents’ perceptions of early care and education arrangements

Given an increasing number of young children now attend non-parental early care and education (ECE) programs, more policy and research attention has been paid to understanding how parents make ECE decisions. Parents make child care decisions based on their perceptions of different ECE types. The reauthorization of CCDBG identified families with toddlers as a priority group that requires special attention from states. This study uses latent profile analysis to examine toddler parents’ perceptions of three types of non-parental child care: center-based child care; family child care; and family, friend, and neighbor care. Results suggest that toddlers’ parents are classified into two profiles: “favorable across all settings” and “less favorable towards non-parental care”. Racial-ethnic minority families and families speaking a language other than English are more likely to be in the “less favorable towards non-parental care” profile while parents in the “favorable across all settings” group tend to be single parents and receive financial support. Further, parents’ perceptions of child care are significantly related to their child care choices. Parents in the “favorable across all settings” group are more likely to use non-parental child care for their toddler. Findings reveal parents’ concerns about the quality and price of non-parental care and indicate the need to improve child care quality and provide child care financial support.