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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Childcare'
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1
Dallimore, David. "Informal childcare and childcare choice in Wales." Thesis, Bangor University, 2016. https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/informal-childcare-and-childcare-choice-in-wales(3def3ed1-d353-48d7-8336-f9e3921d7aac).html.
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The importance of childcare as a field of study and for public policy has grown in recent times in response to an increase in women in the labour force and increasing evidence of the developmental importance of the early years. Following devolution in the UK childcare is now the responsibility of the devolved Governments. In Wales, some distinctive early childhood policies have been developed, but it is unclear whether or not there is a coherent approach which incorporates childcare. Anecdotally, one of the distinctive features of childcare often highlighted in Wales, is the importance of informal care, yet despite a body of UK research examining informal childcare from a number of perspectives, little is known about the practice in Wales. Whether the use of informal childcare in Wales is distinctive and, if so, why is it important, are key questions that are unanswered. The aim of this research has been to examine the field of childcare in Wales and, within it, the choices that families make between formal and informal care. It utilises the theories of Pierre Bourdieu in the study of childcare as a social practice, using his key ‘thinking tools’ of habitus, capitals and field. The study also follows his methodological approach to researching the topic. Three inter-related strands of research activity are presented in this thesis using mixed methods. First, is a structured analysis of policy and related texts. Secondly, data from the 2015 National Survey for Wales is subjected to quantitative examination to present a picture of informal childcare use in Wales, and thirdly, interviews with 45 parents from three areas of Wales are interpreted using thematic analysis. The research finds that there are indeed distinctive aspects of childcare in Wales, including greater use of informal care and less use of formal childcare than in England. Informal childcare use is found to be less associated with economic capital than accumulations of cultural and social capital. Building on Bourdieu’s theories, it finds that alongside unequal possession of capital, parental habitus including work and care dispositions are important in understanding the decisions that parents make about childcare. Also found are differences in the choices that parents make, and are able to make, according to where they live - as well as some distinctive practices related to Welsh language. In conclusion, this research finds that the distinctiveness of the childcare field in Wales and the policy context are inter-related. The political and ideological framing of childcare in Wales along with the delivery model of formal childcare are found to be incoherent. This can be observed to result in many parents relying on informal childcare to accommodate work and caring responsibilities and preferences. Those parents without access to informal care are therefore considerably disadvantaged.
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Call, Karen Dawn. "Childcare Opinion's Project: Incarcerated Mothers' Perceptions of Appropriate Childcare." The Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1306507690.
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Fletcher, Ryan G. "Fathers' and mothers' childcare ideas and paternal childcare participation." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2001. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2806/.
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The relationship between fathers' and mothers' gender-role ideas and fathers' level of participation in general housework has been well documented. Data from a study in 1998 were used to explore specific aspects of this relationship. In particular, fathers' and mothers' genderrole ideas with regard to childcare (childcare ideas) was examined to see whether these ideas influence paternal childcare participation. Specifically, what impact they had on performance of childcare tasks and the time fathers spent with their children. The responses of 38 couples (76 individuals) were analyzed. No statistically significant relationships were found between the variables. The distribution of the data suggests that even though most fathers claimed to have nontraditional childcare ideas, most mothers still performed the great majority of childcare tasks.
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Kovács, Borbála. "Childcare arrangements and the role of childcare policy provisions in Romania." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:c5fb894e-abdd-462a-80fb-4e6d720816b9.
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The focus of the thesis is the exploration of young children’s routine childcare arrangements and the role played by childcare policy provisions (in cash, in time and in kind, through services) in shaping these arrangements in the Romanian context. Through the narratives of 68 family carers in 37 urban and rural Romanian households in multi-ethnic Transylvania, the study investigates the household level processes whereby young children’s care arrangements come to be and explores the ways in which the design of and access to childcare policy provisions might shape young children’s routine care arrangements. In doing so, the thesis reconceptualises the term childcare arrangements and provides a descriptive account of ten different routine arrangements for the care of young children. Through an inductive analysis of carer narratives, the thesis also develops a heuristic tool – hierarchies of care ideals – that lies at the heart of a refined explanatory framework pertaining to the conception and implementation of individual care arrangements. This framework complements existing analytic models that have been developed to explain mothers’ employment and care related decisions during their children’s early years. Building on this inductively developed framework, the thesis expands on the role that different childcare policy provisions were said to play in shaping households’ childcare choices. The thesis reveals that the designs of policy provisions and households’ access to different benefits directly shape young children’s care arrangements. Furthermore, through the analysis of narrative pairs available for most households in the study, the thesis explores the gendered ways in which mothers and fathers narratively constructed agency in relation to decision-making about children’s care arrangements. Finally, the thesis proposes three real-type decision-making models described by carers in the study, revealing the dynamic nature of household decision-making in relation to children’s care arrangements.
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Beal, Heather L. "How Childcare Type and Disaster Recovery Funding Type Impact Childcare Recovery." ScholarWorks, 2019. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/6820.
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Childcare is critical community infrastructure, yet it is typically not eligible for recovery assistance postdisaster. The effect of disaster on children has been extensively studied and research indicates that the return to normalcy (e.g., through restoration of childcare programs) helps aid recovery. Despite this, little research has been conducted on how childcare programs recover. The purpose of this research was to investigate how the recovery times for childcare programs affected by Superstorm Sandy varied based on childcare typology and the recovery funding resources used. A quasi-experimental research design was selected and data from 76 surveys was evaluated using one-way and factorial analysis of variance. The research questions were designed to evaluate the impact of recovery funding types used, childcare type, number of recovery funding resources used, and the interaction of childcare type and recovery funding types used on recovery time. Resource dependence theory was chosen as the theoretical framework because of its precept that only effective organizations survive through application of behaviors such as diversification of resources. The results revealed that there was a statistically significant relationship between the number of recovery resources used and recovery time (p = .04). Social change starts with information. This study supported social change by providing a baseline for childcare recovery research and emphasizing the importance of childcare to both community recovery and the recovery of children in disaster recovery policy.
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Campbell-Barr, Verity. "The economy of childcare." Thesis, University of Kent, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.497736.
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Viitanen, Tarja K. "The economics of childcare." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2004. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/1226/.
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This thesis examines aspects of the market for childcare that affect female labour force participation and the use of childcare. The literature review indicates that previous research on the topic has not come to any clear conclusion on the impact of the price of childcare on the labour force participation and the use of childcare of mothers of pre-school age children. I examine the market for childcare in the UK in particular. In the UK, the common complaints made about childcare include the lack of availability and its high price. I study these two topics separately in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 respectively. The lack of childcare availability is confirmed in Chapter 2 with its finding that there is a large excess demand for childcare in the UK. A topic intertwined with the availability of childcare is the impact of the price of childcare. I estimate the price elasticities with respect to labour force participation and the use of formal childcare in Chapter 3. I find that a lower price for formal childcare would have a significant effect on the labour force participation and the use of childcare of mothers of pre-school age children. The results in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 may indicate that the market for childcare has failed in the UK. The unsatisfied demand for childcare and the high price for formal childcare that is available are likely to result from a lack of providers in the formal childcare market. Hence it may be necessary to examine whether a subsidy for the producers of childcare can increase the provision of formal childcare and decrease its price to bring the childcare market to an equilibrium. In Chapter 4, I examine whether the methods of childcare financing used in Finland could provide solutions to dealing with the UK childcare problem. In particular I examine the impact of a voucher for privately produced childcare that was adopted in Finland in an experimental setting. I find that, in a market with widely available, low cost public care, the voucher for privately produced childcare has a significant effect on the labour force participation and the use of childcare working through increased availability of private childcare and its lower price.
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Latta, Amy Elizabeth. "Parents' division of childcare responsibilities: Predictors of fathers' childcare involvement and egalitarian attitudes." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2004. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2533.
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The current study was designed to examine whether adult childrens' reports of egalitarian parenting by their parents would influence the likelihood for egalitarian parenting behavior and gender role attitudes of the adult child. In general, results support the notion of intergenerational transmission of egalitarian parenting behavior. Individuals whose fathers were more involved in parenting reported greater father involvement in parenting their own children.
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Hassan, Azman. "Quality of the physical environment of early childhood development centres: Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley, Malaysia." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/11487.
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This study investigated the quality of the physical environment of officially registered early childhood development centres (ECDCs) in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley, Malaysia. Previous research shows that the quality of the physical environment in ECDCs is important for children’s development. However, there is little research about the quality of the physical environment in ECDCs in Malaysia. The main research question examined the physical environmental quality of ECDCs in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley. Other research questions investigated the differences in several independent constructs - ownership, building design, economic support, building type and ethnicity - on physical environmental qualities, the interaction between those constructs and physical environmental qualities, and the relationship between parents’ fees and physical environmental qualities. The study used a quantitative survey research design. The principal data collection method was administering an extensive assessment scale. Assessments were conducted on 80 randomly selected ECDCs using the above sampling frame and descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, two-way ANOVA and Pearson’s product-moment correlation were used for data analyses. The main finding of the current study was that the overall physical environmental quality for centres in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley is low. Consistent with the overall finding, the results for 14 physical environment indicators revealed that none of them scored very high or high. Centres with higher parents’ fees evidence better physical environmental quality. The results of this study provide knowledge, information and criteria about physical environmental qualities to which planners, architects, centre owners and directors and interested childcare organisations can refer. Researchers interested in studying childcare in Malaysia can use the information in this study as a reference. This study shows relative weaknesses in Malaysian centres and hopefully this will lead to directions for improving the quality of their architectural design.
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D'Amour, Allison Catherine. "The relations among childcare provider education, neighborhood poverty, and the quality of childcare classrooms." College Park, Md.: University of Maryland, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/8540.
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Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2008.Thesis research directed by: Dept. of Human Development/Institute for Child Study. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.
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Holloway, Sarah Lousie. "Space, place and geographies of childcare." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.397033.
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Al-Kaabi, Ibrahim. "Childcare in the State of Qatar." Thesis, University of Leicester, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/33640.
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The State of Qatar has seen sharp changes towards modernisation in recent years. These include changes in the State infrastructure, the economy, the open market policy, democracy and the introduction of legislation to support these changes. Family and childcare have attracted important attention and concern during these changes from the State authority to meet the future challenges and the needs and satisfaction of children, as well as their parents. No comprehensive research has been conducted in the field of childcare in the State to support, enhance and provide insight into the authority decision-making or policies towards childcare and welfare. Therefore, this study represents the first research in this field and also represents part of the State's policy to cover this omission. The research aims to open, promote and explore issues of childcare for children with special needs. These issues include care agencies' practices and values, partnership with parents, services provided, care policies and social barriers. Extensive fieldwork was carried out to provide the data and information needed, with a framework based on systems and family theories to meet the aims and objectives of the research. The main services provided by the care agencies are education and social skills programmes this reflects the parents' wishes. The research also provides the various changes needed within the profession to meet the future challenges. On the basis of this research, a number of conclusions have been drawn. Entering into partnerships with parents of children with special needs is still in its early stages in the State. There is a need to promote and encourage this partnership. There is also a need to develop mutual understanding and share experiences with parents. The research has also revealed that the social barriers are the main obstacles for integrating children with special into society.
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Rojas, Ana Carolina, and G. Richard Guzmán. "Little Big Minds : Childcare & Afterschool." Tesis, Universidad de Chile, 2015. http://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/133371.
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Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en AdministraciónAutores no mandan autorizaciones, para subir acceso a texto completo de su documento.
Ana Carolina Rojas, [Parte I], Richard Guzmán G. [Parte II]
El modelo de cuidados de niños “ChildCare”, tiene sus orígenes en Estados Unidos en el año 2002 y de este modelo deriva el “Afterschool”, el cual se caracteriza por prestar servicios de cuidado de niños posterior a la jornada escolar. Según algunos estudios realizados en este país, más de a mitad de los estudiantes que participan en estos programas, mejoran su comportamiento y tienen un 30% menos de probabilidades de sufrir maltrato o algún tipo de accidentes caseros. Por otro lado, un estudio de la ONG norteamericana Fight Crime, señala que ChildCare como After shools, son beneficiosos tanto para los niños como sus padres, esto debido a que un 59% de los padres cuyos hijos asisten a este tipo de instituciones, conservó su trabajo y un 54% perdió menos horas hábiles laborales1. Es importante mencionar que el principal objetivo de este tipo de programas consiste en desarrollar en el escolar, valores como disciplina y habilidades sociales como académicas, las cuales son ventajas importantes que obtienen los niños que asisten a estos programas, permitiéndoles como consecuencia potenciar sus propias habilidades y alcanzar mejores resultados a lo largo de la vida. En nuestro país han existido algunas iniciativas tratando de emular este modelo de negocios, sin embargo en el mercado regional actualmente existen escasos lugares en donde se ofrecen estos servicios. Hoy en día existen sólo 7 centros concentrados en 6 comunas de la Región Metropolitana. Cada uno de ellos, ofrece un servicio similar, sin grandes diferenciaciones mostrando un bajo enfoque académico, con poca organización y sin un claro desarrollo del potencial de los niños en diversas áreas del conocimiento, en resumen su primordial actividad consiste en mantener a los escolares realizando actividades poco productivas en temas educacionales y siendo más bien guarderías con pocas actividades recreativas. Nuestra propuesta de valor, como programa ChildCare & After School, es ofrecer educación integral para los niños, facilitando y apoyando a los padres durante las horas posteriores o anteriores a la jornada escolar, en un ambiente seguro y opciones variadas en un mismo lugar con la finalidad de entregar un servicio total, pretendiendo centrar nuestros esfuerzos en tres ejes fundamentales: apoyo en las tareas que los niños, espacio de esparcimiento que permitan diversión en un ambiente agradable y cuidado seguro con los más altos estándares de calidad. Nuestro mercado objetivo, cumple con determinadas características, las cuales serán detalladas en el análisis de la industria y mercado objetivo, de la cual es posible inferir, que existe un mercado potencial de 38.856 menores divididos en 28.871 alumnos en la mañana y 9.985 en la tarde, sólo en la Región Metropolitana. Inicialmente pretendemos estar presentes en 3 comunas de la Región Metropolitana, seleccionadas en base a nuestro análisis de mercado y segmentación, para ello necesitamos de una inversión inicial de $38.915.000, la cual serán financiadas en un 100% por los socios de la empresa. Nuestro plan de crecimiento establece adicionalmente la apertura de un centro educacional, a contar del tercer año, uno en el cuarto y otro en el quinto año de funcionamiento, en las comunas que se registren las mayores demandas de este tipo de servicios. Dado lo anterior, pretendemos ser el mayor centro de cuidado de niños de pre y post jornada escolar con una participación del 13,43% del mercado objetivo. Ver anexo A. Tras un análisis de mercado y revisando los antecedentes que maneja actualmente la competencia, podemos mencionar que el mercado está dispuesto a pagar entre $80.000 a los $220.000 por este tipo de servicios, ya sean competidores directos o sustitutos. Nuestra propuesta base tendrá un valor mensual de $110.000 la media jornada con una matrícula anual de $100.000, sin embargo se planean realizar varios planes que se ajusten a las necesidades de nuestros consumidores
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Olawande, Esther. "Childcare information seeking behaviour of parents." Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2016. http://research.gold.ac.uk/18538/.
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Parents’ ability to access good quality information is the lifeline to good family outcomes, just as access to good quality childcare offers a child the best start in life. Pioneering information seeking behaviour study in the field of childcare, this research identifies that family outcomes are determined by their information behaviour, demand on systems, social networks, information sources and other symptomatic influencing factors including trust, quality, cost, staff, time and values. The research builds on existing theoretical approaches by integrating a multi-theoretical approach to facilitate a comprehensive analysis of parents’ childcare information-seeking behaviour which reveals that the childcare information-seeking process is characterised by information behaviours such as sense making, information authentication, information berry-picking, and in some cases information avoidance based on parents’ experience, system complexity, or family values. Identifying patterns of childcare information-seeking behaviour, the research builds a model that reflects the four categories of information sources parents consult or engage with during the period. Recognising the major barriers to information seeking, the research accentuates the critical success factors required to improve parents’ experience when looking for childcare to inform future policies, practice and development.
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Gambaro, Ludovica. "Why are childcare workers low paid? : an analysis of pay in the UK childcare sector, 1994-2008." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2012. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/477/.
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The thesis examines pay among British childcare workers from 1994 to 2008. It uses childcare as an example of female care occupations and selects the UK as a case study because in recent years childcare services have expanded substantially. As childcare provision has become increasingly formal, the issue of the rewards attached to this type of work has become more pressing. The thesis asks why childcare workers in the UK have traditionally received low pay and to what extent they continue to do so. It explores the changes in childcare policy that have taken place since the mid-1990s in order to understand whether Government’s increased commitment to childcare services has resulted in an improvement in workers’ pay. The thesis develops a multi-layered analysis. First, based on a review of policy documents and secondary sources, the thesis examines British childcare policy and identifies the challenges to higher pay in the sector. Second, the thesis investigates changes in the characteristics and pay of the childcare workforce between 1994 and 2008 by using data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and from the Early Years and Childcare Providers survey. Finally, cultural assumptions about caring motivations and pay are explored on the basis of data from the LFS as well as findings from interviews with childcare workers. The thesis makes three main contributions. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods and a variety of information sources, it offers evidence on changes in the remuneration of British childcare workers, paying close attention to the way childcare policy, education policy and labour market institutions influence wage levels. Furthermore, drawing from the example of childcare in the UK, the thesis contributes to the wider debate on the undervaluation of women’s work by pointing to some of the institutional dynamics that account for low pay in the sector. Finally, the thesis highlights the direct labour market impact of a childcare and early education policies, thus exploring an important dimension of welfare state analysis.
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Bartlett, Colleen Kay. "Exploring the Impact of Wyoming's Pathways to Professional Development Program on Childcare Providers and Quality Early Childcare." ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/1434.
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Childcare programs that provide high quality care can strengthen children's early development. One component of a quality program is having providers who are knowledgeable in child development; however, despite the understanding of these known predictors of child development, Wyoming does not require childcare providers to complete any training before beginning to work with children. Guided by the constructivist theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, Dewey, and Bruner, this objectives-based program evaluation investigated the Pathways to Professional Development program to determine participants' perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of the program. A researcher-produced survey was created based on the objectives of the program and consisted of open-ended and Likert scale questions. This survey was completed by 35 childcare providers who completed the 3 modules of the Pathways program. Data analysis began by identifying potential categories, comparing and contrasting emerging themes, and looking for emerging patterns in participant responses. Key results indicated that the participants of this program gained knowledge about child development and developmentally appropriate practice. The implications for social change from this research are directly related to the early childcare providers, children, and ultimately the communities of Wyoming. By increasing the knowledge of childcare providers, higher quality care can be provided, leading to positive relationships, stimulating learning experiences, and to a greater likelihood of children reaching their full potential.
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Cruz, Felicity M. F. "Parents decisions regarding childcare: the Guam perspective." Thesis, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/6931.
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Kansteiner, Suzanne. "A parent handbook for family childcare programs." [Denver, Colo.] : Regis University, 2007. http://165.236.235.140/lib/SKansteiner2007.pdf.
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Hall, Lesley Ann. "Family childcare : supporting daily lives and livelihoods." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/252.
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Childcare provided by extended family members (mainly grandparents), operating in the non-marketed, unpaid, informal economy, accounts for the largest proportion of all childcare used by working parents in the UK. Yet policymakers continue to consider childcare needs and provision in terms of formal childcare only such as day nurseries, registered childminders and out-of-school clubs. This thesis provides much needed insight into the socio-cultural, political and economic processes which influence childcare selection, observing the way in which individual (or household) agency and structural constraints interact and highlighting the potential tension between social well-being and economic rationality. This is considered within the context of household provisioning, and the interdependence of the complementary (or informal) and formal economies, by demonstrating the vital role of `family childcare' as an unpaid contribution from mainly non-resident grandparents which complements the formal economy by allowing parents to work, while also contributing to household livelihoods and the social well being of working parents. The positive and negative aspects of the family childcare relationship have been explored in an empirical study of two socio-economically contrasting city wards of Newcastle upon Tyne, providing statistical evidence of the high levels of use of 'family childcare' in particular, presented with other data which offers a more `rounded understanding' of the parents' and childcarers' subjective experience. This in-depth study contributes to the contemporary debates about family obligation and normative consensus, and the 'nature of care' and whether or not care provided by family (or friends and neighbours) should be paid. The key warning from this study is that the current 'taken for granted' view held by the UK Government ignores the potential for family conflict created by excessive dependence on family childcare, and the objective consequences in terms of lost income and future pension entitlements for those providing it (mainly grandparents). The longer-term implications for the planning of childcare provision are considered, focusing on ways in which the beneficial aspects of the family childcare relationship could be preserved, at least on a part-time basis, by providing proper short and longterm support. This looks to the future of the value of care in all of society, recognising that formal childcare has a part to play, but that not everyone wants to relinquish all care to the market, calling for systems that facilitate the combination of childcare to fit the social, moral and economic circumstances of parents and carers.
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Parker, Cecilia. "Irish childcare, 1850-1913 : attitudes and approaches." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2016. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/91713/.
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During the period 1850-1913 the landscape of Irish childcare witnessed significant changes. The Famine left thousands of children orphaned or deserted in Irish workhouses and Ireland was forced to confront the question of how best to raise these children of the poor to be respectable and self-sufficient adults. The period was defined by attempts to answer this question and by 1913 a new system for such care was in place. This was a system dominated by a belief in institutionalisation, mainly in industrial schools, of children as beneficial both to the children and to Irish society, and driven by a fear and mistrust of the poor as parents. The developments during 1850-1913 have not previously been examined in a coherent and cohesive manner. This thesis aims to do so, thus adding to the understanding of the attitudes and approaches to childcare for the poor in Ireland. The thesis will also make use of quantitative analysis in a manner not previously done in order to understand the evolution and development of childcare institutions. The first chapter focuses on the Irish Poor Law, its relation to children, and the development of voluntary, charitable childcare institutions. The second chapter examines the increasing criticism against workhouse care through two case studies. The third chapter explores the rejection of foster-care in Ireland in the form of boarding out from workhouses. The fourth chapter analyses the rise of the reformatories and industrial schools managed largely by the Catholic Church. The final chapter explores how the increasing interest and concern for the children of the poor resulted in the development of an increasingly extensive framework of legislation that, by 1913, touched on almost all aspects of the lives of the children of the poor and their families.
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Knopf, Herman Theodore. "African American mothers' perceptions of quality childcare." [Gainesville, Fla.] : University of Florida, 2004. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/UFE0006020.
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Shaheen, Ahmad. "Successful Employee Retention Strategies in Childcare Centers." ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3005.
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Fifty percent of childcare employees leave their jobs by the close of their 5th year of experience. The purpose of this exploratory single case study was to explore what retention strategies some childcare center directors use to retain their employees in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area. The research population consisted of 5 childcare center directors who successfully implemented retention strategies in 5 different childcare centers. The conceptual framework for this study was the Herzberg, Mausner, and Snyderman motivation-hygiene theory. Data were collected via semistructured interviews with the directors and from centers-handbooks and strategic plans. Coding, word frequency, and thematic analysis were conducted, and member checking was employed to bolster the trustworthiness of interpretations. Three main themes emerged: the importance of employee compensation, communication and culture, and education and training to retain childcare center employees. Understanding the strategies to retain employees may help childcare center directors reduce the turnover and ensure stability for employees in that industry. The implications for positive social change include lower unemployment rates and a more stable childcare labor market.
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Juguet, Rozenn, and Anna Clappier-Kervoël. "Childcare and maternal employment in Europe : How childcare cost differences among European countries influence the labour force participation of mothers?" Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för nationalekonomi och statistik (NS), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-53546.
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The aim of this essay is to examine the influence of childcare costs on mother’s employment in European countries. Previous literature indicates that having a child represents a penalty for a woman’s career and integration into the labour market. An empirical analysis has been conducted using the OLS method and cross-national data. We have focused our study on 17 European countries and on data from one particular year.Our findings suggest that a high childcare cost is related to a low maternal employment rate and/or a high share of employed mothers working part-time. As a result, the variations in childcare cost may be partly responsible for the variation in mother’s employment across European countries.The main limitation of this analysis is the small number of observations. Due to the lack of statistical significance of most of the coefficient, we can only suggest a hypothesis that needs to be investigated by further research.
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Smith, Fiona. "The geography of out-of-school childcare provision." Thesis, University of Reading, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.481700.
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Page, Jools. "Mothers, work and childcare : choices, beliefs and dilemmas." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2010. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/10352/.
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This thesis, Mothers, Work and Childcare: Choices, Beliefs and Dilemmas asks two questions: What factors are women in England likely to need to take into consideration when making employment decisions and childcare choices when their babies are under twelve months of age? What importance, if any, do mothers place on having carers in day care settings who `love' their children? The thesis begins by introducing the context and rationale for the study, including 21St century policies in England to encourage mothers to return to the workforce (HMT, 2004). A critical review of the literature explores three key themes: An historical overview of women in the workforce in the UK; Attachment Theory, and Policy perspectives in England since 1989. The thesis then discusses and justifies its life historical exploration of six mothers' decision-making about work and childcare. A four-staged process of meaning- making is used to analyse and interpret the women's life stories which are presented as `Interpreted Narratives'. Seven key themes emerged from the analysis: Childhood, Decision-making about returning to work, Influences and Dilemmas, Expressions of Emotion, and Indicators for Change, Identity and `Love Drawing on the data and key literature in the field three of these themes are discussed in detail: Decision-making about returning to work, Expressions of Emotion, and `Love'. The thesis contributes to the field firstly by highlighting the experiences of six mothers when they made decisions about child care early in their children's lives. This rich data complements the extant literature which reports broader, quantitative and generalisable studies. Secondly, it indentifies some of the complex decisions which women have to make when considering returning to work when their babies are young. Thirdly, the thesis explored the saliency of `love' in the context of mothers' choices, beliefs and dilemmas around choosing child care and introduced the notion of `professional love'. Finally, the study has developed a fourstage process of meaning-making which could be applied in life historical research focusing on other topics. The thesis argues that mothers of young children view the concept of `love' as a crucial factor in deciding whether or not to return to paid work. An original facet of the thesis is its introduction of the notion of `professional love' (the love of a practitioner for a child in his/her care) which, it is argued, needs further conceptualisation and exploration in early childhood education and care contexts. The thesis concludes that mothers' stories of their personal experiences are important and their decision- making is complex, involving compromises between `ideal' childcare arrangements and `real-life' choices of care.
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Ives, Mary Katherine. "Implementation of New Childcare Policies in New Orleans." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2009. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/953.
Full textAbstract:
The high number of working parents in the U.S. means that there are millions of child in need to care during working hours. Research shows that the quality of this care is of high importance in a child's development, both in the short-term and the long-term. States have used a variety of policy tools to regulate child care and to attempt to improve the quality of care. Louisiana has recently implemented a new policy called the Quality Rating System. Directors of centers in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, were interviewed to determine the impact of participation in QRS. Centers are struggling to meet the requirements and feel that changes need to be made for the program to have a better outcome.
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Fan, Shengjie. "Food safety practices in childcare centers in Kansas." Thesis, Kansas State University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/15760.
Full textAbstract:
Master of ScienceDepartment of Hospitality Management and Dietetics
Kevin R. Roberts
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that one in six Americans become ill,128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year due to foodborne illness. Children are at a higher risk of acquiring foodborne illness than adults for several reasons, including: an immune system that has yet to fully develop, limiting their ability to fight infections; a lack of control over the food they consume because their meals are usually provided by others; and the lack of awareness of food safety risks. Thus, it is critical to ensure that childcare center employees practice safe food handling. The purpose of this study was to explore the food safety knowledge, practices, and barriers to safe food handling practices of childcare center employees. Observations were conducted in 10 childcare centers in Manhattan, Kansas. Each childcare center was observed for two days during lunch preparation and service. Observations of foodservice employees were conducted in the kitchen using a structured observation form. Teacher observations were conducted in the classroom using detailed notes. A questionnaire was used to collect demographic, food safety training, and food safety knowledge information. SPSS (v. 20.0) was used to analyze data. Childcare center employees had high average scores on the safety knowledge assessment. The majority of employees received some type of food safety training. Time pressures, availability of equipment, and small food preparation space were found as the main barriers to implementing safe food handling. Childcare center foodservice workers and teachers were knowledgeable about handwashing and time/temperature control, but failed to utilize on the job. Results of this study will help childcare educators to develop materials to improve food safety practices and encourage owners/managers of childcare centers to enhance their food safety behaviors.
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Williams, James Larry. "A Christian childcare training program reduction of burnout /." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1991. http://www.tren.com.
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Shah, Helma. "Job satisfaction : what it means to childcare teachers /." Thesis, This resource online, 1995. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-01102009-063214/.
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Kragh-Muller, G., Rebecca Isbell, Charlotte Ringsmose, and Pamela Evanshen. "Best Practices in Childcare: United States and Denmark." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2011. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4356.
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Moran, Kaitlin Kelly. "Early Childcare Settings and the Parental Enrollment Process: Insights from the Maternal Primary Caregivers of Children Attending High-Poverty Urban Childcare Centers." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2014. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/272591.
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Urban EducationPh.D.
Every day in the United States, millions of children living in high-poverty neighborhoods are dropped off at a variety of early childcare settings and arrangements. When those settings are high quality, early childhood education can produce both short and long term benefits for this population, including increases in school achievement and in literacy attainment and decreases in grade retention, the likelihood of early dropout, and behavioral issues (August & Hakuta, 1997; Barnett, 1995; Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997; Entwisle & Alexander, 1993; Korenman, Miller, & Sjaastad, 1995; McLoyd, 1998; Wertheimer & Croan, 2003; Zill, 1999). Early childhood education, however, is neither a formalized nor mandatory educational level, which gives parents significant latitude in deciding when and where to enroll their children. Consequently, it is important to better understand the quality, availability, distribution, and use of non-parental childcare across different settings. A more nuanced perspective is also necessary because there is great variation in the types of and tendencies toward childcare enrollment along the lines of socioeconomic status, race, and geographical location. This research study presents the findings of a qualitative, interview-based study that explored what maternal primary caregivers were influenced by when they enrolled children of color in high-poverty urban childcare centers. Building upon the current literature, the study explores the ways structural, parental, and child-level factors intersected in the decision-making process and how choices continued to effect parents after initial enrollment decisions had been made. This study also addresses parental satisfaction levels. Through a series of interviews conducted with the maternal primary caregivers of children enrolled in one of three early childhood centers in a single metropolitan region, this study captures and describes childcare enrollment as a complex and nuanced process. The findings of the study speak to the nature of navigating and managing childcare decisions from the perspective of the parent. Specifically, the study found that networks of trust, maternal instincts, and lessons learned from past childcare experiences influenced the choices of the maternal primary caregivers interviewed. Educational value and children's futures were also important, as were logistics and cost. As the mothers in the study made their choices, they also negotiated structural, parental, and child factors. The literature supports these factors as influencing choice, but they have largely been examined in isolation. This study adds to the literature by describing how levels of factors intersected and overlapped with one another. More exploratory findings of the study support that maternal primary caregivers continued to manage their childcare choices long after enrollment and that childcare satisfaction is both subjective and nuanced. The experiences of the women who participated in this study shed light upon directions for future research and areas of need in terms of resources, information, and support. The mothers in this study made childcare choices based on their realties, using who or what they knew and how they felt. Further, the local governance where this study was conducted proved highly disjointed and participants showed little faith in the system. The greatest area of need, which would stand to most benefit all parents, is for meaningful increases in support, resources, and cohesion at the local level.
Temple University--Theses
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Bor, Elif. "Neighborhood quality, childcare quality, and children's early developmental outcomes." Fairfax, VA : George Mason University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1920/2958.
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Thesis (M.A.)--George Mason University, 2007.Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jan. 17, 2008). Thesis director: Adam Winsler. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology. Vita: p. 90. Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-89). Also available in print.
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Islam, Md Tuhinul. "Residential childcare : the experiences of young people in Bangladesh." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/8262.
Full textAbstract:
Residential childcare has had an image which, at the very least, is not a positive one. It has been blamed for weakening family links and leading to poor educational and health outcomes for children (Biehal et al. 1995; Mendes and Moslehuddin 2004; Stein 2002). However, children and young people enter residential care institutions for a variety of reasons, and by examining the experiences of children and young people in Bangladesh, we can see that residential childcare has the potential to offer a positive option for many disadvantaged children and young people. UNICEF estimates that there are more than 49,000 children in residential care in Bangladesh (UNICEF 2008), but this figure fails to include thousands of children who live in madrasahs. There is neither a uniform childcare policy nor formal aftercare support provision in Bangladesh; instead, the government, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and madrasahs all have their own approaches and methods and there has been no research conducted on young people in and after care. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of residential care from the perspectives of a group of young people who had lived in residential childcare institutions in Bangladesh with a view to making improvements in residential childcare in the future. Qualitative methods were employed for data collection, using in-depth semi-structured interviews with 33 young people (aged between 12 and 26) who had left the care system and observation of the four institutions where they had lived: one run by an NGO, two run by the government and one madrasah run by the religious community. All of the fieldwork was conducted and transcribed in Bangla. The findings of this study show that young people had mixed feelings about their lives in care, preparation for leaving care, and aftercare support; moreover, their experiences were diverse. Overall, most said that they had benefited from being in care and the institution had had a largely positive impact on their lives. However, the experience for those who had been evicted was much less favourable; these young people suffered a range of hardships after leaving care. The findings also show that there was a connection between the in-care experience and the success of a young person in the outside world. The type of institution, its culture, systems and practices, the amount of care received and socio-cultural-religious influences all played a part. The research further indicated that although some young people developed a measure of resilience to face the problems of their everyday lives, they were not fully able to overcome them due to societal discrimination. Those who did best where those who had developed positive attachments with at least one trusted adult, who acted as a mentor and strengthened their commitment and self-motivation. The findings demonstrate that aftercare support varied from institution to institution, but overall, was informal in nature. The study concludes by setting out implications for building better residential childcare policy and practice in Bangladesh. It identifies a number of avenues for further research, suggesting that lessons for the minority world may be learned from this study, namely the notion that the whole community should take responsibility for its children; and attention should be paid to faith and religious beliefs in children’s upbringing. The study has also demonstrated that improving financial resources may not necessarily lead to better outcomes from children and young people. Instead, building relationships with adults, peer groups, parents, and community offer the best chance for good outcomes.
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Sila, Urban. "Working hours, childcare support, wage inequality and windfall gains." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2010. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2769/.
Full textAbstract:
This work analyses working hours, childcare support, wage inequality and windfall gains. In Chapter I, I test whether family-support policies play a role in explaining variation in working hours across countries. I analyse childcare subsidies and family cash benefits and I distinguish between people with children and people without children. Childcare subsidies should increase working hours in the economy and these effects should differ between parents and nonparents. I test this using household data for a set of European countries and the US. Empirical analysis, however, does not support the family-policy explanation. The effects of the policies on working hours are weak and insignificant. Furthermore, I do not find evidence for the expected differences between parents and nonparents. I conclude that family policies are not helpful in explaining the variation in working hours across countries. In Chapter II, I argue that rising inequality in offered wages lowers average working hours. If the labour supply is concave in wages, the aggregate effect of the decrease in working hours of low- paid workers is greater than the increase in working hours of high-paid workers. Furthermore, due to low market opportunities, some of the low-paid workers may leave the labour force and become inactive. Using the CPS-MORG data for prime-age men I find evidence in support of this explanation. After controlling for the average wage, wage inequality has a negative effect on the labour supply. In Chapter III, I investigate whether workers adjust hours of work in response to windfall gains using data from the European Household Panel. The results suggest that unexpected variation in income has a small negative effect on working hours. Furthermore, the empirical findings show that the impact of windfall gains is more important for young and old individuals, is most negative for married individuals with young children, but can be positive for single individuals at the age of 40.
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Strang, Michelle. "Best Practices for Strengthening Physical Activity Policies at Childcare." Diss., North Dakota State University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10365/25978.
Full textAbstract:
The sharp increase in childhood obesity in recent years has been dramatic and continues to negatively impact children and their families. Low levels of physical activity (PA) during the preschool years is likely a contributing factor. Considering that most children in the U.S. attend some type of childcare, this is an ideal venue for implementing policies that shape children?s activity and sedentary (SED) patterns. The purpose of this dissertation was twofold. The first study compared levels of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and SED in children attending licensed childcare centers with a PA-policy with those attending centers without a PA policy. The second study identified correlates (child-level, teacher-level, and classroom-level) of children?s MVPA and SED at childcare. Preschoolers (191), lead teachers (23), and center directors (12) from 12 licensed childcare centers (6 intervention/6 comparison) participated in the study. Children wore accelerometers during childcare for 3 days in the spring (April/May) of 2016. For the first study, separate mixed-model ANCOVAs were utilized to examine group differences in MVPA and SED, with gender entered as a covariate and classroom as a random factor. Levels of MVPA (6.74 min/h vs. 5.62 min/h, p = 0.06) and SED (29.97 min/h vs. 31.30 min/h, p = 0.32) were not significantly different between intervention and comparison groups, Findings from study one suggest the implementing a PA policy may not improving children?s PA behaviors, although compliance to policy guidelines was low. For study two, accelerometry data were utilized to examine potential correlates (measured by surveys completed by parents, teachers, and directors) of children?s PA and SED. Correlation and mixed-model regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between 18 potential correlates across multiple domains (demographic, anthropometric, social, and environmental), accounting for gender and clustering of activity within classrooms. Results from study two indicate that gender (boys) (p < .01), time spent outdoors (p < .05) and the amount of play equipment available (p < .05) were positively associated with MVPA, and gender (boys) (p < .01), and time spent outdoors (p < .05) were negatively associated with SED.North Dakota State University. College of Health Professions (Clinical/Translational Grant)
North Dakota State University. College of Human Development and Education (Student Research and Travel Fund)
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BESINGER, BRIDGETT A. "MOTHERS IN ADDICTION TREATMENT: THE ROLE OF ONSITE CHILDCARE." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1083340428.
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Miller, Melissa Anne. "Effects of childcare program quality on adaptive behavior development." Online version, 1998. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/1998/1998millerm.pdf.
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Besinger, Bridgett A. "Mothers in addiction treatment the role of onsite childcare /." Cincinnati, Ohio : University of Cincinnati, 2003. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=ucin1083340428.
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Chernyaeva, Natalia Lewin Ellen. "Childcare manuals and construction of motherhood in Russia, 1890-1990." Iowa City : University of Iowa, 2009. http://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/344.
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Redetzke, Christine. "Level of parental involvement in a nationally accredited childcare center." Menomonie, WI : University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2006/2006redetzkec.pdf.
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Mullan, Killian. "Parental Childcare in the United Kingdom: Concepts, Measurement and Valuation." Thesis, University of Essex, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.486599.
Full textAbstract:
The daily lives of children and the childcare provided by parents; forms the nucleus of this PhD i thesis. Using the United Kingdom Time Use Survey 2000 (UKTUS), a comprehensive picture of the care provided by parents is developed; and the daily lives of children and young people are analysed in detail. The thesis makes full use of the available time-use data by exploiting not only the activity diaries, but also all of the available data concerning who people are with and where they are throughout the day. The thesis is an example of the scope and potential of time-use data, and contributes significantly to the literature using UKTUS. Furthermore, the thesis analyses time-use data gathered from the diaries of parents and children within the same household so as to examine childcare from both the parents' and the child's perspective. This enabled the operationalisation of concepts associated with parent-child shared time that had hitherto only been possible using US data. It also enabled the analysis of the potential impact of parental time use on children's time use, and the valuation of the inputs and outputs of childcare produced by parents. The thesis addresses three main areas.
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Lynch, Meghan. "Childcare providers' perceptions of food and mealtimes: A qualitative approach." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/28680.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis research sought to explore childcare providers' perceptions of nutrition in childcare settings. Drawing upon a social ecological understanding of behaviour, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 providers. Written in a two article format, the first article details factors providers perceived as influencing their decisions regarding food and mealtimes for childcare settings; the second article focuses on strategies providers perceived to encourage healthy eating and their reasons for use of these strategies. Providers described being influenced by a range of factors, not receiving pertinent support for assisting healthy nutritional development in childcare settings, and being focused on short-term objectives rather than long-term healthy nutritional development. These results encourage further research into understanding the interconnections between the different influences and developing nutritional materials better suited to providers' needs. Gaining an increased understanding of factors influencing childcare providers' decisions regarding nutrition is vital to encouraging healthy nutritional behaviour development in children.
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Moore, Charlotte. "Does Childcare Accessibility Encourage Entrepreneurship? A Case Study of France." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2018. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1128.
Full textAbstract:
Globally, developed economies show the largest gender gaps in entrepreneurial activity. This analysis examines one potential cause of low rates of female entrepreneurship, work-family policies, specifically in France. The objective of this paper is to test whether or not there is a relationship between entrepreneurship and childcare accessibility in France, and if this relationship exists, to learn about its nature. Using data from 2009 to 2013, probit regressions are run for different outcomes of entrepreneurial activity with early childhood care aid eligibility as the explanatory variable of interest. These regressions are run separately for men and women and for the whole sample. This paper does not find conclusive evidence that childcare accessibility significantly affects the probability that one is involved in entrepreneurial activity either for women or for the whole sample. However, it does suggest that if the relationship is significant, childcare aid has a negative impact on the decision for entrepreneurship. Finally, I consider other variables closely correlated with childcare financial aid that may negatively impact involvement in entrepreneurial activity.
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Huang, Junjie. "Spatial affordances for preschool children's social interactions in childcare environment." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2017. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/18259/.
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Smith, DeVona Diana. "Childcare Providers’ Attitudes about Inclusion of Children with Special Needs." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1288920491.
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Wissel, Alanna Rey. "Working in Residential Childcare: What are the Challenges and Rewards?" Miami University / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1386174131.
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Wolf, Marcia A. "Parent perceptions, interests and involvement in a campus childcare center." Online version, 2001. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2001/2001wolfm.pdf.
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Bauer, Brooke. "Nutritional assessment of children enrolled in a structured childcare setting." Online version, 2002. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2002/2002bauerb.pdf.
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Lymbery, Jennifer Ann Walters. "Giardia and cryptosporidium infection in childcare centres in Western Australia." Thesis, Lymbery, Jennifer Ann Walters (2004) Giardia and cryptosporidium infection in childcare centres in Western Australia. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2004. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/168/.
Full textAbstract:
Giardia and Cryptospovidium are both recognised as important causes of infectious diarrhoea in children worldwide, and childcare centres have been shown to be a major site of infection. The incidence of infectious diarrhoea in children attending childcare centres has been estimated at between two to five times greater than in children cared for at home. Both Giardia and Cryptospovidium have a faecal-oral route of transmission that facilitates their spread in childcare environments, but can also be interrupted through the use of efficient hygiene protocols such as handwashing. Despite their importance as causes of infectious diarrhoea, there are no data on the prevalence or transmission dynamics of these parasites in Australian childcare centres.
The present study was designed to determine the prevalence and incidence of both Giardia and Ciyptosporidium in children attending childcare centres in Perth,Western Australia. Data were collected on asymptomatic infection, seasonal trends, the transmission dynamics of the parasites and risk factors for infection. The second part of the study involved the development, implementation and evaluation of a health intervention package designed to interrupt the transmission of causative organisms of infectious diarrhoea in childcare centres. This intervention was based on appropriate and effective handwashing.
Over a period of 23 months, 1 172 faecal samples were collected from non-toilet-trained children (n=306) attending 14 childcare centres in Perth, Western Australia. Where possible, family and contacts of infected children were also sampled to determine the dynamics of infection in the community. Information on syrnptomology of infections and risk factors for infection was obtained by the administration of a questionnaire to parents of all the children in the study.
Over all the childcare centres in the study, 7.8% of children were positive for Giardia and 10.8% were positive for Cryptosporidiunz. Of these, 37.5% of the Giardia-positive children returned positive samples on two to four occasions, but not always consecutively, suggesting either continuous or repeated infection with the parasite. Only 12% of children who were Cryptosporidiurn-positive were infected for two consecutive months.
The major findings of this study included a significant seasonal peak in the prevalence of both Giardia and Cryptosporidium, with 50% of Giardia and 73% of Cryptosporidiurn infections occurring during the autumn months of March, April and May, and a high proportion of asymptomatic Giardia infections (45%), compared with only 13.5% of asymptomatic Cryptosporidiurn infections.
There was evidence for the transmission of both Giardia and Cryptosporidium infections to household contacts of infected children. Of the children who were found to be positive, faecal samples were also collected from 28 family members of those children with Giardia and from 14 family members of those with Cryptosporidiunz. Of these, 17.9% family members of the children with Giardia and 28.6% of family members of the Cryptosporidiuin children returned positive faecal samples. The only significant risk factor for Giardia infection was the number of adults living in the household, with infection more likely to occur in children who had a greater number of adults in the household. Significant risk factors for Clyptosporidium infection included the age of the child: the mean age of the positive children (20.6 months) was higher than in the negative children (16.6 months), and the length of time enrolled at the centre. Children who were positive had attended for a longer time than those who were negative (1 1.2 and 7.8 months respectively).
These results have important implications for the control of infection with these organisms, both within and beyond childcare centres. Since these parasites can be readily transmitted by an asymptomatic carrier, the high percentage of asymptomatic cases in this study, particularly of Giardia, strengthens the argument for health interventions which are directed at interrupting the trailsmission of the parasite.
A health intervention programme was developed that focused on handwashing procedures and was targeted at the carers, the children and the parents of the children in the centres. It was designed to be a low-cost programme both financially, and in the time and effort required to implement the programme within the childcare centre, to enhance compliance with the intervention. The success of the programme in changing the knowledge, attitudes and practices of carers was evaluated through a pre- and posttest questionnaire. This showed that the programme successfully improved the knowledge of the carers in the test centres in several important areas of infection control. These included knowledge about specific organisms causing infectious diarrhoea in childcare centres, transmission of these by asymptomatic individuals and increased knowledge about effective handwashing technique. Because it has been repeatedly shown that increased knowledge does not always translate into improved practices, and that interventions are not always successful in maintaining an improvement in the desired practices, a subjective evaluation was also performed. This was designed to determine how effective the intervention was perceived to be by the carers themselves, and whether they would continue to use the intervention over time. The results showed that the majority of the carers (>88%) found the intervention appropriate and useful in teaching both the carers and the children within the centres, the importance of handwashing. Twelve months after the intervention had first been implemented, 57% of the centres in the study were still using the intervention at least once per month and a further 2996, while using it less than this, still continued to use it occasionally. This is important information, since an intervention can only be useful if it is actually being used.
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Lymbery, Jennifer Ann Walters. "Giardia and cryptosporidium infection in childcare centres in Western Australia." Murdoch University, 2004. http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/browse/view/adt-MU20070327.94029.
Full textAbstract:
Giardia and Cryptospovidium are both recognised as important causes of infectious diarrhoea in children worldwide, and childcare centres have been shown to be a major site of infection. The incidence of infectious diarrhoea in children attending childcare centres has been estimated at between two to five times greater than in children cared for at home. Both Giardia and Cryptospovidium have a faecal-oral route of transmission that facilitates their spread in childcare environments, but can also be interrupted through the use of efficient hygiene protocols such as handwashing. Despite their importance as causes of infectious diarrhoea, there are no data on the prevalence or transmission dynamics of these parasites in Australian childcare centres.
The present study was designed to determine the prevalence and incidence of both Giardia and Ciyptosporidium in children attending childcare centres in Perth,Western Australia. Data were collected on asymptomatic infection, seasonal trends, the transmission dynamics of the parasites and risk factors for infection. The second part of the study involved the development, implementation and evaluation of a health intervention package designed to interrupt the transmission of causative organisms of infectious diarrhoea in childcare centres. This intervention was based on appropriate and effective handwashing.
Over a period of 23 months, 1 172 faecal samples were collected from non-toilet-trained children (n=306) attending 14 childcare centres in Perth, Western Australia. Where possible, family and contacts of infected children were also sampled to determine the dynamics of infection in the community. Information on syrnptomology of infections and risk factors for infection was obtained by the administration of a questionnaire to parents of all the children in the study.
Over all the childcare centres in the study, 7.8% of children were positive for Giardia and 10.8% were positive for Cryptosporidiunz. Of these, 37.5% of the Giardia-positive children returned positive samples on two to four occasions, but not always consecutively, suggesting either continuous or repeated infection with the parasite. Only 12% of children who were Cryptosporidiurn-positive were infected for two consecutive months.
The major findings of this study included a significant seasonal peak in the prevalence of both Giardia and Cryptosporidium, with 50% of Giardia and 73% of Cryptosporidiurn infections occurring during the autumn months of March, April and May, and a high proportion of asymptomatic Giardia infections (45%), compared with only 13.5% of asymptomatic Cryptosporidiurn infections.
There was evidence for the transmission of both Giardia and Cryptosporidium infections to household contacts of infected children. Of the children who were found to be positive, faecal samples were also collected from 28 family members of those children with Giardia and from 14 family members of those with Cryptosporidiunz. Of these, 17.9% family members of the children with Giardia and 28.6% of family members of the Cryptosporidiuin children returned positive faecal samples. The only significant risk factor for Giardia infection was the number of adults living in the household, with infection more likely to occur in children who had a greater number of adults in the household. Significant risk factors for Clyptosporidium infection included the age of the child: the mean age of the positive children (20.6 months) was higher than in the negative children (16.6 months), and the length of time enrolled at the centre. Children who were positive had attended for a longer time than those who were negative (1 1.2 and 7.8 months respectively).
These results have important implications for the control of infection with these organisms, both within and beyond childcare centres. Since these parasites can be readily transmitted by an asymptomatic carrier, the high percentage of asymptomatic cases in this study, particularly of Giardia, strengthens the argument for health interventions which are directed at interrupting the trailsmission of the parasite.
A health intervention programme was developed that focused on handwashing procedures and was targeted at the carers, the children and the parents of the children in the centres. It was designed to be a low-cost programme both financially, and in the time and effort required to implement the programme within the childcare centre, to enhance compliance with the intervention. The success of the programme in changing the knowledge, attitudes and practices of carers was evaluated through a pre- and posttest questionnaire. This showed that the programme successfully improved the knowledge of the carers in the test centres in several important areas of infection control. These included knowledge about specific organisms causing infectious diarrhoea in childcare centres, transmission of these by asymptomatic individuals and increased knowledge about effective handwashing technique. Because it has been repeatedly shown that increased knowledge does not always translate into improved practices, and that interventions are not always successful in maintaining an improvement in the desired practices, a subjective evaluation was also performed. This was designed to determine how effective the intervention was perceived to be by the carers themselves, and whether they would continue to use the intervention over time. The results showed that the majority of the carers (>88%) found the intervention appropriate and useful in teaching both the carers and the children within the centres, the importance of handwashing. Twelve months after the intervention had first been implemented, 57% of the centres in the study were still using the intervention at least once per month and a further 2996, while using it less than this, still continued to use it occasionally. This is important information, since an intervention can only be useful if it is actually being used.