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Parents and non-parental adults who interact with children influence child development. This study evaluates the knowledge of child development in two large and diverse samples of adults from Alberta in 2007 and 2013. Telephone interviews were completed by two random samples (1,443 in 2007; 1,451 in 2013). Participants were asked when specific milestones in physical, cognitive, emotional and social domains typically occur (age birth to six years). Data were analysed using univariate and multivariate techniques. Linear logistic regression models were used to examine factors associated with knowledge and differences between the two samples while adjusting for differences and covariates. Adults' knowledge was overall poor (<25% correct responses), but notably higher for physical (48% in 2007, 44% in 2013) than social, cognitive or emotional milestones (=21% in all cases). Knowledge was lower in the 2013 than the 2007 sample (23% in 2007, 21% in 2013), and in particular for mothers after adjusting for location and income (24% in 2007, 22% in 2013). Evidence of low knowledge may have important education and policy implications. Factors such as availability of child development evidence-based information, parental stress and access to quality childcare might play a role in the low levels of knowledge.

Mothers are often viewed as encumbered workers, juggling multiple responsibilities in paid and reproductive work. In this article, we examine the paid and reproductive experiences of mothers with preschool children in Canada, using a socio-ecological framework and a critical-feminist lens to explore the micro and macro environments that shape women’s home and work lives. To do this analysis, we completed demographic surveys, focus groups, and individual interviews with 58 mothers of preschool children in the Province of Alberta, Canada. The key finding discussed in this article is that for many participants, regardless of current job status (full-time, part-time or opt-out), the idealized solution to work-family integration challenges was part-time employment. Results suggest that although part-time employment was viewed as an ideal for many mothers, in practice, it proved to be a less-than-perfect solution for mothers attempting to integrate paid and unpaid work. Because earned income is the key source of financial well-being for the vast majority of Canadian households, and mothers’ marginalization in paid work may impede mothers’ income security and wellbeing, we posit that maternal employment is a key facet of gender equality that needs more attention in the scholarly literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the absence of a universal, publically funded child care system, the majority of families with pre-school children in Canada depend on unregulated child care. In this study, we explore mothers' strategic and rationalized decision to use unregulated care in the context of a child care 'non-system'. Using the province of Alberta as a case study, drawing upon data from 15 focus groups with 109 mothers in urban and rural locations, we problematize and extend the relationship between cost and quality in the context of informal, unregulated care – where care is provided by family and friends at little-to-no cost – and examine the non-economic and economic costs of this type of care. Describing their experiences, mothers were conscious of the price they were paying: the choice to use informal, unregulated care resulted in non-economic and economic trade-offs in terms of relationships with caregivers, the quality of care provided, and maternal labour force attachment. We show how mothers' options for both quality child care and satisfactory labour market attachment are constrained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]