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Home > Research & Centers & Projects > Wilder Foundation Collaboration : Child Care use in Minnesota

Child Care use in Minnesota

Child Care use in Minnesota:
2004 Statewide Household Child Care Survey

This study was conducted and the formal reports prepared by Wilder researchers for the Minnesota Department of Human Services. At the Wilder web site, you will find reports from the study as well as a data dictionary that contains all survey questions and response categories and an SPSS file with the full dataset.

About the survey

Telephone survey conducted in English, Hmong, Somali, and Spanish.

  • Base Sample
    • 1363 households with children age 12 and under
    • 44% in greater MN, 56% in Twin Cities metro area
    • Response rate: 67.4%
  • Over-sample
    • 180 households with low incomes
    • Response rate: 68.1%
  • Survey addresses
    • Child care arrangements
    • Cost of child care
    • Work related issues
    • Parent satisfaction with current arrangements
  • See pages 13-20 of the full report for more information.

Key findings

  • 74% of families with children 12 and under use some kind of child care on a regular basis
  • Most common child care arrangements:
    • Relatives
    • Care centers (e.g., Head Start)
  • Family schedules often require care before and after typical work day and on weekends
  • More families are eligible for cost assistance through government programs and/or tax benefits than are receiving such assistance
  • Convenience, quality, and cost are top concerns for parents
  • Many families feel like they have limited options and have to "take what they can get"
  • Families with low incomes tend to have less choice, more challenges, and more problems with child care
  • Child care problems hurt parents' employment

About the data file

  • SPSS portable data file
  • 93 questions
  • N=1363

Some issues that may be explored with these data

  • Children with special needs
  • Parents and paid work
  • Participation in parenting education
  • Variation in arrangements by time of year (summer vs. school year) and age of child
  • Types of care: sibling or self-care, licensed, family, friends, neighbors, organized activities (camp, clubs, etc.)
  • Cost of care
  • Awareness and use of assistance programs
  • What predicts who will say they just "take what they can get?"
  • What do people want to change about their primary arrangement?

Additional Notes

Wilder also conducted a 1999 study of child care in Minnesota. Be careful making comparisons between the 1999 and the 2004 studies as methodological differences between the two surveys are significant.

Chase, R. and Shelton, E. 2001. Child Care Use in Minnesota, Report of the 1999 Statewide Household Child Care Survey. St. Paul, MN: Wilder Research.