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Family travel often involves conflicts and compromises between parents and children, as parents balance their parental role expectations with their own desire for leisure. Based on role theory, we collected cross-sectional data on parenting-to-leisure conflict and resolution behaviors to identify clusters of family travel experience patterns of parents using latent class analysis. The analysis identified four classes: "conflicting journey: active solvers," "conflicting journey: self-repression solvers," "harmonious journey: child-centered solvers" and "harmonious journey: self-neglect solvers." Each cohort has distinct family travel behaviors and demographics, as well as distal outcomes, i.e. intention to separate from children and intention to purchase childcare services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childcare services are widely used by families and thereby exert an important influence on many young children. Yet, little research has examined whether childcare may impact the development of child executive functioning (EF), one of the pillars of cognitive development in early childhood. Furthermore, despite persisting hypotheses that childcare may be particularly beneficial for children who have less access to optimal developmental resources at home, research has yet to address the possibility that putative associations between childcare and EF may vary as a function of family factors. Among a sample of 180 mostly White middle‐class families (91 girls), we examined if childcare participation in infancy was related to two aspects of EF (Delay and Conflict) at 3 years, and whether two aspects of maternal parenting behavior (sensitivity and autonomy support) moderated these associations. The results showed positive associations between participation in group‐based childcare and Delay EF specifically among children of relatively less autonomy‐supportive mothers. These findings suggest that out‐of‐home childcare services may play a protective role for children exposed to parenting that is less conducive to their executive development. Research Highlights: Little research has considered effects of childcare in infancy on executive functioning (EF).Long‐standing hypothesis that childcare is more beneficial for children exposed to less sensitive and supportive parenting.We test interactions between maternal parenting and childcare participation in infancy in relation to EF at age 3 years.We find positive associations between participation in group‐based childcare and Delay EF specifically among children of relatively less autonomy‐supportive mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early data regarding gender implications of COVID‐19 suggest that men are more likely to die as an effect of infection while women are those who suffer the social consequences of pandemic as they dominate in care‐oriented professions and bear the consequences of increased caring needs at home. The latter includes caring for children, who, in many (European) countries have been subjected to homeschooling. However, the lockdown resulted in the fact that also men (usually white‐collar workers from middle class) changed their work organization and habits and have started working from home. Some studies suggest that this specific situation results in the increase of involvement of fathers into caring activities at home. Hence, the main goal of our paper is an attempt to answer the question if pandemic opened new opportunities for larger involvement of men in caring activities. The study will locate research outcomes in the context of gender regime in Poland in order to investigate if lockdown, online work and care responsibilities enabled to challenge or to reproduce existing gender relations, with a special focus on masculinities patterns. It will be done by analyzing data from Poland, namely, semi‐structured qualitative interviews collected in two waves – during spring lockdown 2020 and during late autumn and winter 2020/2021 with men and women working online at home and caring for underage children. By doing so, we expect to add more nuanced, crisis‐related theoretical understandings of caring masculinity concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether and to what extent the availability of grandparents in the home plays a buffering role in the labor supply of parents of children aged 0–5 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The role of grandparents as a childcare resource and its association with parents' labor supply have received increasing attention in the literature. Limited childcare options during the pandemic underscore the need to investigate how working parents manage the double burden of family and work and what role grandparents could play. I use monthly data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) from January to May 2019 and 2020. Using a propensity score matching method, parents in three-generational households were matched to those in two-generational households. Then, I employ a difference-in-differences approach with propensity score-matched samples. Results show that parents living with grandparents are more likely to have worked last week and worked longer during the pandemic relative to parents in a two-generational household. The effects of the availability of coresident grandparents are more pronounced among single and low-educated parents than their counterparts. Furthermore, mothers and fathers show heterogeneous responses to the presence of grandparents during the pandemic. In conclusion, results highlight that grandparents played a buffering role in mitigating the adverse impact of the pandemic on parental labor supply. This study sheds light on the importance of grandparental care specifically and informal care and home-based care in general. It also provides policy implications for strengthening the childcare system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed Methods Results Conclusions So What? Australian children are not meeting the recommended physical activity (PA) and healthy eating (HE) guidelines. Health behaviour practices implemented in community settings such as early education services can improve child's health outcomes and are therefore key to help meet guidelines. This study aimed to measure the implementation of HE and PA policies and practices in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and to examine their association with service characteristics.A random sample of 1122 centre‐based ECEC services were invited to a cross‐sectional survey measuring HE and PA policy and practice implementation. Regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between the service characteristics and implementation of policies/practices.In total, 565 ECEC services completed the survey. Results show that while some practices are implemented, the implementation of practices promoting HE and PA education is low. Practices related to educator training for HE (18%) and PA (13%) were poorly implemented. The implementation of practices such as ‘providing educator training around child PA’, ‘engaging families in activities to increase child PA’ and ‘encouraging supportive feeding practices’ were significantly higher in services located in major cities than regional/remote services. ‘Having a PA policy’ and the practice of ‘limiting the use of screen time’ was significantly higher in long day care services than in preschools. The implementation of ‘providing educator‐led PA’, ‘providing free play opportunities’ and ‘having a PA policy’ was significantly lower in private not‐for‐profit community managed services than in private for‐profit services.Implementation of various HE and PA policies and practices in regional/remote services, private not‐for‐profit services and preschools across NSW could be improved.Future research should be prioritised towards identifying factors influencing the implementation of these policies and practices to best tailor implementation support efforts for those who need it the most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unprecedented large-scale childcare facility closure during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a dramatic increase in the childcare burden at home, which is shouldered disproportionately by women more than men. Leveraging anonymized mobile tracking data and nationally representative time-use survey data from the USA, this study adopts a quasi-experimental approach to examine the impact of childcare facility closure on the gendered division of household childcare time. It further investigates whether this impact varies according to respondent education, family income, and employment status. Results show an expanding gender gap in parenting time on child education with young children during the pandemic. The gender gap expanded even more in places and months with more childcare facility closures, but this gendered effect is only evident among parents with lower education and family income. Our findings call for institutional support during similar public crises to mitigate the potentially negative impact on gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-World War II, the vocational parent system was established in Japan in 1951―based on the Child Welfare Law―to provide aftercare for older dependent children. The vocational parents lived with the children and provided the guidance necessary for them to live independently. The evolution of the vocational parent system is divided into three periods for this study: the 1950s, the end of the 1950s to the mid-1960s, and the mid-1960s to the 1970s. Vocational parents were primarily from small- and medium-sized business establishments who could provide personal guidance. This prevented the children from becoming skilled workers and seeking employment in large companies. Vocational parents were expected to provide "parental love" to the children without compensation, despite having to bear the childcare costs and blunders at work. The more the government, welfare personnel, and newspapers sought the welfare ideal of parent-like assistance, the more detached they became from the realities of the working environment and the needs of the children. Consequently, the disparity may have contributed to the decline in aftercare in post-war Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food fortification with micronutrients was initially justified in developed countries by a lack of availability of micronutrients in staple crops, mainly due to soil exhaustion. However, in Sub-Saharan arable lands, soil fatigue is not predominant, and communities consume mostly home-grown, organic, non-processed crops. Sub-Saharan food systems are nevertheless deeply entwined with food insecurity, driver of illnesses. Family production can promote subsistence, food stability, and self-sufficiency, the main SSA setback being the vicious cycle of poverty and the lack of dietary variety, contributing to malnutrition. Poverty reduction and women's education are significant strategies for reducing child and adolescent undernourishment. Fortification of foods consumed daily by individuals makes sense and can minimize, if not entirely, eliminate deficiencies. Compulsory mass fortification of foods in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with single micronutrients is, however, controversial since they work in synergy among each other and with the food matrix, for optimal absorption and metabolism. Since the causes of malnutrition are many, caused by diverse, unequal, and unjust food distribution, interrelated with political, social, cultural, or economic factors, education status of the population, season and climatic changes, and effectiveness of nutrition programs, just food fortification cannot solve the composite of all these elements. Further, compulsory fortification is excessive, unproductive, and likely harmful to human health, while many challenges remain in assessing the quality of available premixes. Furthermore, aiming at dietary diversification is the best approach of increasing trace element intake from commonly accessible and easily available food sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature strongly emphasises the importance of constructive relationships between parents and their children's caregivers. However, minimal empirical research has investigated relationships between language minority parents and caregivers in childcare. This large-scale study seeks to fill this gap by exploring the quality of the language minority parent‒caregiver relationship with a focus on the child's multilingual upbringing. Therefore, three domains that reflect the quality of parent‒caregiver relationships were assessed: (1) interpersonal connections, (2) home‒childcare continuity, and (3) language and multilingual upbringing advice parents receive from caregivers. The sample consists of 404 language minority parents, recruited from 85 childcare facilities (0–3 years). Results indicate that most parents reported positive relationships with their child's caregiver with respect to interpersonal characteristics (communication and trust). In contrast, parents responded less favorably regarding issues pertaining to their language expectations, including whether multilingual upbringing advice, either solicited or unsolicited, was discussed. While language advice was not frequently given, when it was given, multilingual advice was more prevalent than monolingual advice, and one-parent one-language (OPOL) advice was common. Practical and policy implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing mental health challenges and introduced new ones, particularly among vulnerable populations such as individuals within the criminal justice system, who disproportionately experienced employment, financial, and housing issues. As mandatory lockdowns and social distancing mandates were implemented, the United States saw unprecedented interruptions to treatment. Telemedicine emerged as a transformative tool in alleviating new and existing treatment barriers. Yet, limited empirical research has examined the impact and implications of telemedicine on mental health treatment in criminal justice populations. Methods: The timing of this study's data collection overlapped with the spread of COVID-19 in the United States and provided a unique opportunity to examine the impact of telemedicine as part of a natural experiment. Utilizing interviews with 61 community mental health center service providers, this study qualitatively examined service providers' experiences in treating criminal justice-involved individuals with serious mental illness who were receiving mental health treatment through telemedicine. Results: Service providers expressed satisfaction with telemedicine in addressing client transportation and childcare barriers while increasing engagement. Service providers voiced new concerns regarding clients' confidentiality, digital literacy, and limitations to gathering non-verbal client information during virtual treatment. Conclusions: Mental health treatment offered through telemedicine mitigates barriers to treatment that disproportionately affect criminal justice clients. Despite its benefits, challenges like access to reliable internet and to internet-enabled devices, confidentiality concerns, and information gathering must be addressed to achieve optimal and equitable mental health treatment through telemedicine. The findings support the continued use of telemedicine in mental health treatment delivery for this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal childcare care by grandparents, other relatives or friends is an important source of support in many Western countries, including Germany. Yet the role of this type of care is often overlooked in accounts of social policies supporting families with children, which tend to focus on formal childcare. This article examines whether the large formal childcare expansion occurring in Germany in the last two decades has been accompanied by similar or opposite trends in informal childcare usage. It argues that accounting for both formal and informal childcare can offer a more accurate assessment of defamilisation effects of family policies. Drawing on representative data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel the analysis identifies long‐run developments of childcare arrangements for children aged 1–10 between 1997 and 2020, offering for the first time a comprehensive picture of how families with children of different ages mix informal care and service provision. Results show that on average the expansion of formal childcare was not associated with an equal reduction in informal childcare, lending little support to the crowding‐out hypothesis. Further analyses distinguishing between population groups with different propensity to use formal childcare reveal, unexpectedly, remarkable similarities in the use of informal care throughout the period examined. The only exception are families with a migrant background, who tend to use informal childcare less than their counterparts. The general trend is, however, one whereby informal and formal care are increasingly combined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed: Childcare educator knowledge gaps in infection control practices and outbreak management. This can contribute to the well‐reported issue of transmission of infectious diseases in childcare centres and the associated health and economic costs. Methods: A health promotion program in the form of an educational slideshow presentation with interactive question/answer component was developed and offered to all childcare centre staff in the Wide Bay region, Queensland. Results: Childcare educators who participated in the education sessions reported a significant increase in their knowledge and confidence in outbreak management on pre‐ and post‐intervention self‐assessment. Conclusions: Simple educational programs can significantly improve the self‐assessed knowledge and confidence of childcare educators in managing infectious diseases. So What?: Improving knowledge and confidence of childcare centre staff in managing basic infectious diseases can help reduce the health and economic impacts of these infections. Simple educational health promotion programs could be introduced as part of an orientation program for new staff, or refreshers for existing staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study utilises data from China's second (2018) Time Use Survey (CTUS) to quantitatively investigate the impact of educational level on the amount of time parents commit to childcare. It finds that as educational attainment increases and attitudes towards parenting change, parents focus on childcare through "primary activities". Mothers engaged in childcare as a "secondary activity" only account for 6.2 per cent of the sample, and fathers for an even lower 4.5 per cent. Education positively affects the time parents devote to childcare. The father's involvement in childcare is significantly influenced by the mother's level of education. Employment status significantly influences both parents and spousal childcare time. Women bear approximately three times as much time to childcare as fathers. Furthermore, the shift away from traditional gender-biased attitudes has not significantly influenced the time that parents commit to childcare. Older generations living in the same household do not significantly reduce parents' childcare time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many challenges exist in promoting inclusion in childcare settings. Adequate support from specialized professionals is necessary to create inclusive childcare settings. Understanding which services are being delivered by specialized professionals in childcare contexts is an important first step. The aim of this study was to (1) describe the services currently being delivered by specialized professionals in childcare settings in Quebec (Canada) and (2) seek childcare administrators' perspectives on their preferred services. Methods: An online province‐wide descriptive survey was conducted with childcare administrators (n = 344). Questions focused on 11 service delivery dimensions (e.g. professionals involved, children served). Descriptive statistics were calculated. Results: Childcare settings received services from a median of two specialized professionals (IQR [1–4]). Most services were delivered by early childhood special educators (61.3%), speech‐language pathologists (57.6%), psycho‐educators (43.6%) and occupational therapists (43.3%). Childcare administrators identified these four services as being particularly supportive. Professionals delivered a median of 0.4 h of service per week in each childcare setting (IQR [0.1–3.0]). A high percentage (91.2%) of administrators reported unmet needs for professional support in at least one developmental domain, with a high percentage (57.3%) of administrators identifying needs in the socio‐emotional domain. Most (63.3%) expressed a desire to prioritize services for children without an established diagnosis but identified by early childhood educators as having needs for professional support. Most administrators (71.4%) also preferred in‐context services. Conclusions: Childcare administrators perceive an important role for specialized professionals in supporting inclusion in their settings. Recommendations emerging are based on the four main professional service needs identified: (1) increasing the intensity and stability of services; (2) providing services for undiagnosed children identified by early childhood educators as having unmet needs; (3) ensuring that services encompassing all developmental domains with a focus on the socio‐emotional domain; and (4) prioritizing of in‐context services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Services from specialized professionals in childcare settings contribute to support early childhood development. Little is known, however, about how services are delivered in this context. The aims of this scoping review were to propose a framework to describe services delivered by specialized professionals in childcare contexts and synthesize knowledge about those services. Methods: Documents published between 2000 and 2022 in APA PsychINFO, ERIC, CINAHL and MEDLINE were included. These documents described services delivered by a range of specialized professionals (e.g., speech‐language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and early childhood special education teachers) in childcare contexts and whose aim was to support motor, cognitive, affective, language or social development of children. Deductive and inductive qualitative analyses and descriptive statistics were carried out. Results: The review included 47 documents. The Description of Services delivered by specialized Professionals in Early Childhood (D‐SPEC) Framework emerged from qualitative analyses. The D‐SPEC Framework included 11 dimensions: three actors and their context, specialized professionals involved, children served, purpose of service, type of service, service duration and intensity, mode of service delivery, mode of access to services and funding. Most services delivered by specialized professionals in childcare were provided by a single professional and targeted language. Two documents described multitiered service delivery models with a continuum of services ranging from general support for all children to individualized interventions for children with specific needs. In‐context services were preferred to pull‐out services in most documents reviewed. Conclusions: The D‐SPEC Framework may be a useful tool to assist researchers in documenting and comparing services delivered by specialized professionals. More importantly, this framework will facilitate the development of intersectoral and interdisciplinary services essential for supporting early childhood development. Multitiered service delivery models appeared to be a promising way to develop those services addressing the various needs encountered in childcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the childcare arrangements of migrant families has primarily focused on transnational childcare practices or childcare-work reconciliation in the host society, without paying appropriate attention to the dynamic and complex negotiation processes that underlie mobility-childcare coordination. This study proposes the concept of transnational childcare bricolage to explore how Chinese migrant families in Italy mobilize and (re)assemble transnationally located and/or unconventional resources and constantly (re)adjust childcare arrangements to achieve a nuanced match between evolving childcare demand and capacity. The study draws on in-depth interviews with members from 50 Chinese migrant families in Italy, as well as participant observation and multi-sited ethnographic observation. Through analyses of their mobility-childcare negotiation processes, we illustrate how migrant families from different social class backgrounds navigate the complexities and contingencies embedded within a family-state-transnational triad. Additionally, our research questions the ethnicized division of care work between migrants and natives, highlighting common experiences of marginalization and work-care tensions faced by women of similar socio-economic positioning, regardless of their ethnicity and/or nationality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the role of formal and informal childcare within the ECEC policies for gender employment and pay gaps, considering the life course stages distinctive for childcare tasks. The ECEC policies are framed within the types of social investment strategies identified in the EU countries to picture developments in social investments after 2005. The aggregated EU‐SILC data from 2005 to 2019 for 27 European countries have been used in the panel regression models to uncover how the caring arrangements influence labour market gendered outcomes of women at different ages (15–24, 25–49, 50–65). We find that better provision and use of early education and childcare not only contribute to early investment in human capital but it also facilitates mothers' employment and thus contributes to lowering gender employment and pay gaps. However, better coverage of care for children older than 3 years old results in negative employment effects for grandmothers. These effects vary also across countries, depending on their overall institutional setting depicted by the types of social investment strategies distinguished. Consequently, the ECEC agenda should be extended by addressing the employment of women at the pre‐retirement age. It is crucial not only for reducing gender gap in employment and pay but also in the light of challenges generated by demographic developments—the labour force shrinking and the population ageing processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Study links childcare hours with behavior problems and academic achievements. • In Singapore, 58 % of children spend over 40 hours per week in childcare. • Child outcomes show an inverted U-shaped relation with childcare hours. • The inflection points are at approximately 35–40 hours per week. This study examined how the number of hours of early childhood education (ECE) is associated with young children's behavior problems and early academic achievement in Singapore, a non-WEIRD ("Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic") country with families using long ECE hours. We drew data from the Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study. Participants were 3- to 6-year-old children (N = 2,452). General linear models and spline regressions were utilized to analyze how ECE hours were associated with children's behavior problems and early academic achievement while controlling for child and family characteristics. On average, Singaporean children stayed 41.07 hours per week in ECE centers, with 38 % of the sampled children spending more than 50 hours per week in ECE centers. Notably, we found an inverted-U-shaped relation between ECE hours and child outcomes with a turning point of approximately 35–40 hours per week. Before the turning point, a greater number of hours in ECE was associated with more externalizing problems and higher academic achievement. However, after this point, a greater number of hours was associated with fewer behavior problems, both externalizing and internalizing, as well as poorer academic achievement. These findings demonstrate a complex nonlinear association between ECE hours and child outcomes in a context of children spending prolonged hours in centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about how grandparents influence childcare and mothering practices in developing countries. This is against the backdrop of literature that has documented that when young women become mothers, they receive extensive support and guidance on how to parent their babies from grandparents. This study explored how grandmothers in Lusaka, Zambia, shaped the mothering practices of first-time mothers.The study used an exploratory qualitative descriptive research design. Thirty grandmothers were interviewed independently using a semi-structured interview guide. Results highlighted a wide variation of teachings in the pre-and post-natal phase. At prenatal, Teachings before childbirth was the main theme, with the sub-themes preparing for labor and preserving pregnancy. While at postnatal, teachings after child's birth emerged as the primary theme with sub-themes, caring for the newborn and keeping the baby safe. Grandmother teachings were essential for keeping mother and baby healthy during prenatal and postnatal. Grandmother teachings in both prenatal and postnatal phases were found significant in ensuring the mother and the baby are healthy. These findings underscore the need to involve grandmothers in health programming and interventions to improve maternal and infant health in Zambia. Abbreviations: HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus; WHO: World Health Organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed-methods study explored the centrality and meanings of men's and women's parental and work-related identities by comparing semi-traditional, equal-sharing, and role-reversed couples. Quantitative analysis involved 2,813 British parents (1,380 men, 1,433 women) who were primary caregivers, primary breadwinners, or equal sharers with at least one child aged 11 or under. Qualitative analysis drew on 60 in-depth interviews with 10 couples from each of the three groups. Results indicated that the centrality of parental and work identities varied by role rather than gender, as both male and female caregivers reported less central work identities and more central parental identities compared to breadwinners and equal-sharers. Equal-sharers and role-reversers were characterized by women's central work identity and men's low centrality of work identity. In these couples, a 'half and half' parenting ideology underlined the construction of mothering and fathering as equivalent interchangeable identities, each forming only one half of a child's parenting. Intertwining their maternal identity with an equivalent construction of their partners' identity allowed women to reconcile a good mother ideal with central work identities, by redefining mothering as a responsibility for only half of the caregiving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant nannies (au pairs) and migrant grannies (migrant grandparents) have emerged in Australian policy and public discourses as new "solutions" to the "problems" of unmet needs for reproductive labor in households and the under‐utilization of working‐aged Australian women in the workforce. Despite their similarities – both are pitched as sources of extended or fictive kin for the provision of childcare – these two classes of migrants are rarely thought about together. Using a critical discourse analysis of policy and media documents between 2013 and 2019, this article examines how debates concerning migrant nannies and migrant grannies are framed and explores the implications for the distribution of reproductive labor. Findings reveal new directions in the distribution of reproductive labor to fictive and extended migrant kin and highlight the importance of an intersectional approach to understanding the complex interactions not only between gender, class, migration status, and ethnicity but also age in new articulations of Australia's work‐care regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous education is essential for healthcare professionals, especially in childcare settings where caring for the youngest requires high competency. Introducing periodic training for nurses and other specialists underscores the importance of continuous education in improving children's health and the quality of care. The study focuses on the attitudes and preferences of healthcare professionals in childcare settings regarding training. For this purpose, a questionnaire was utilized, and the data were statistically analyzed to identify key trends and common themes. According to participants in the study, practical exercises and support from management are crucial for their engagement. The necessity for training that is current and applicable is key to enhancing the quality of medical services for children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autobiographical memory supports three functions of remembering past, the self, social, and directive. Previous studies undertaken with adults recalling their play experiences have identified three aspects: the ages between 7 and 12 years are key; there are significant adults involved in the play and location that play talks place. This paper, drawing on an online questionnaire (n = 55), explores adult memories of attending an after-school club as a child between 1990 and 2010. A thematic analysis was undertaken on the responses from the fifty-five participants. The results from this study found adults had predominately positive memories of their time at the after-school club in respect of the activities that were on offer, the supervising adults, the food provided, and friendships made. One negative theme of boredom was identified. This study has implications for professional practice in after-school provision in supporting children's play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intergenerational interactions between children and older adults are gaining broader recognition because of their mutual benefits. However, such interactions face practical limitations owing to potential disease transmission and the poor health of older adults for face-to-face interactions. This study explores robot-mediated interactions as a potential solution to address these issues. In this study, older adults remotely controlled a social robot to perform a health-screening task for nursery school children, thereby overcoming the problems associated with face-to-face interactions while engaging in physical interactions. The results of this study suggested that the children responded favorably to the robot, and the rate of positive response increased over time. Older adults also found the task generally manageable and experienced a significant positive shift in their attitude toward children. These findings suggest that robot-mediated interactions can effectively facilitate intergenerational engagement and provide psychosocial benefits to both the parties to the engagement. This study provides valuable insights into the potential of robot-mediated interactions in childcare and other similar settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Research on the childcare experiences of visually impaired mothers and their expectations from nurses in this context is relatively scarce. This study aims to explore the experiences of visually impaired mothers in caring for their children, as well as their expectations from nurses during this process. The goal is to provide strategic recommendations for nurses based on these expectations. Methods: The study utilized a phenomenological design and employed a qualitative methodology. Data for this study were collected in six different provinces of Turkey between March 2019 and May 2020. The study group consisted of 25 visually impaired mothers with nondisabled children aged 0–18 years. Results: The analysis yielded four themes: "Postpartum Emotions and Care at 0–1 Years," "Hygienic Care of the Child," "Experiences in the Child's Illness," and "Nursing Support: Expectations of Visually Impaired Mothers." While the first three themes are associated with childcare, the fourth theme encompasses both the expectations from nurses and recommendations for visually impaired mothers. The study found that visually impaired mothers had unique experiences and either received assistance or developed childcare strategies. However, it was observed that nurses struggled to empathize with visually impaired mothers, and efforts to address their specific needs were limited. Implications for Practice: Pediatric nurses should develop methods to facilitate childcare for visually impaired mothers. Successful outcomes in this field depend on nurses collaborating with visually impaired mothers and providing them with ongoing support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Using a community‐based participatory research (CBPR) approach, this study documents Latine immigrant families' work, childcare, and education experiences during the COVID‐19 pandemic to inform policy and practice to support Latine families. Background: Latine immigrant communities, comprising undocumented and mixed‐status families, were among the hardest hit by the COVID‐19 pandemic. In addition to employment and housing challenges, children and families lost access to the important academic supports and social services built into childcare programs and schools. Method: For this study, we collected in‐depth qualitative interview data from mothers who were immigrants from Central America and Mexico (N = 23) as part of an ongoing CBPR project. Using community coding techniques, data were analyzed in partnership with our Community Advisory Board, Amigas de la Comunidad. Results: In the context of illegality, participants and their families who already feared deportation and family separation, faced added burdens during the pandemic including job loss, school and childcare closures, and isolation. Parents worried about meeting their families' basic needs, getting sick, losing loved ones to COVID‐19, and being evicted from their housing. Conclusion: While participants shared stories of resilience and resistance, they also reflected on stories loss and hardship—experiences that were exacerbated by anti‐immigrant laws and policies that made navigating the pandemic especially punishing for immigrant families. Implications: On the basis of study findings, program and policy implications for serving Latine children and youth and their immigrant parents, especially those with mixed documentation status, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Family policy is an area where policy transfer has garnered a lot of attention lately. A growing body of research demonstrates policymakers' interest in and willingness to adopt foreign family policies. However, previous studies have tended to neglect the second mechanism of policy transfer: resistance. This manuscript aims to address this research gap by exploring both the willingness and resistance to policy transfer in Czech and Korean childcare and leave policies. Design/methodology/approach: This study employs a qualitative research design, incorporating structured expert interviews instrumental in in-depth thematic analysis. Findings: The analysis shows that policymakers in both countries demonstrated interest and willingness to transfer family policies, albeit employing different strategies and to varying extents. Moreover, the two countries exhibited significant differences in resistance to family policy transfer, with resistance in the Czech Republic being more frequent and effective. Resistance is directed towards both forced and voluntary transfers, although it isn't always against transfers that require a paradigm change. Policy transfer and non-transfer can concurrently be perceived as threats. Originality/value: The study concludes that integrating both policy transfer and resistance in the analyses helps to shed light on cross-national differences in family policy change and contributes to a more nuanced portrayal of the world of policy transfer in this policy field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the adjustment in time allocation to school support activities by mothers and fathers during the pandemic across 22 Latin American and Caribbean countries, exploring the repercussions on labor market outcomes and children's learning losses. Our analysis reveals that mothers experienced a disproportionate increase in time dedicated to children's educational support compared to fathers, particularly when mothers could work from home. The results suggest that these effects were more pronounced in countries with stringent school closure measures and limited access to in-person instruction. Even as mobility restrictions eased and schools reopened, the additional responsibilities taken on by mothers remained above pre-pandemic levels. Mothers also significantly increased the time spent on non-educational childcare, though to a lesser extent than educational support. We also show evidence indicating a decline in maternal labor force participation and a rise in flexible labor arrangements as mothers allocated more hours to child-related duties. Our study also provides descriptive evidence that children's learning losses were less severe in countries where the gender disparity in pandemicrelated school support was greater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2020, nearly 1.6 billion learners were out of school. While a growing body of literature has documented the detrimental impact of these closures on children, less attention has been devoted to the steps countries took to mitigate the impact of these closures on working families. Paid leave is recognized as an important policy tool to enable working parents the time they need to respond to family needs without risking job or income loss. This article uses a novel data set to assess whether countries had policies in place prior to the pandemic to respond to increased care needs and the extent to which policies were introduced or expanded during the pandemic to fill the gap. Only 48 countries had policies in place prior to the pandemic that could be used to respond to the care needs created by school and childcare center closures. In the vast majority of these countries, the duration of leave in these policies was too short to meet the care needs of the pandemic or relied on parents reserving extended parental leave options. Only 36 countries passed new legislation during the pandemic, but the majority of those that did covered the full duration of closures. As countries continue to face COVID-19 and consider how to better prepare for the next pandemic, emergency childcare paid leave policies should be part of pandemic preparedness frameworks to prevent further exacerbating inequalities. The policies introduced during the pandemic offer a wide range of approaches for countries to identify feasible solutions.

Identifying effective professional development related to providing social-emotional support in early childhood classrooms is a critical need. We used a multiple probe across participants and behaviors design to examine the impact of external coaching support on classroom coaches' use of coaching strategies with teachers in childcare programs. As secondary measures, we assessed the implementation of the Pyramid Model using a standardized tool and teachers' perceptions of children's engagement and behavior. Two classroom coaches increased their implementation of two Practice-Based Coaching components: (a) collaboration and planning and (b) reflection and feedback. Results from secondary measures were inconclusive. Our study extends the professional development research by focusing on increasing the implementation fidelity of evidence-based coaching strategies to improve teachers' use of social-emotional teaching practices in early childhood classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Teacher-led strategies targeting verbal prompting and demonstrated modeling can increase preschoolers' physical activity levels; however, it is unknown which strategy promotes higher levels. The purpose of this study was to explore whether teacher verbal prompting or demonstrated modeling elicits higher levels of physical activity among preschoolers. Methods: Participants included 117 (56 females and 61 males; mean = 3.77 y) preschoolers who were observed for 3 days during regular preschool instructions. The System for Observing Student Movement in Academic Routines and Transitions observation system assessed verbal prompting and demonstrated modeling of the teachers, and preschoolers wore an ActiGraph accelerometer to measure physical activity. Results: The multivariate analysis of variance results showed a significant difference for verbal prompting (P <.001), demonstrated modeling (P =.032), light physical activity (P <.001), and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA; P <.001) between segments of the preschool day. A stepwise linear regression showed that preschooler's MVPA (P =.005) and light physical activity and MVPA (P =.036) were significantly related to demonstrated modeling, but not verbal prompting. During indoor time, light physical activity and MVPA were highest during large group, work time, and morning group, where teacher demonstrated modeling occurred the most. Conclusions: Teacher demonstrated modeling had a significant relationship to preschoolers' MVPA and light physical activity levels, while teacher verbal prompting did not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study aims to explore whether the working parents' perception about the necessity of childcare centres for their work efficiency is associated with their anxieties and concerns related to their dual responsibilities, i.e. providing proper parental childcare and maintaining work efficiency. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 100 employed parents, from the Jashore region of Bangladesh, was surveyed, and descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Findings – It was revealed that there is a strong association between the perceived negative impact on job performance, childcare, child development, work efficiency and perceived need for a childcare centre. Research limitations/implications – The limitation of this study is that it was confined to Jashore University of Science and Technology. The results may differ from those of the study conducted outside this study area and the methodology used here. Practical implications – This study has significant practical implications for employers, childcare service providers and policy makers, especially in Bangladesh. The employers will be able to understand the demand for childcare services centres among the employed parents in respective organizations. It will draw attention of employers of knowledge intensive industries and grants commission to the issue of conflict of work and childcare-related responsibilities of employed parents. This will also make employers conscious about the dilemma that is undergone by employed parents motivating them to take actions for minimizing such conflicts to ensure better job performance of working parents. Social implications – Based on this study, childcare providers and other policy makers will be able to ascertain the potential size of the childcare market and determine the requirement for investment in childcare-related human resources development. As the work and childcare responsibilities compete for limited time of working parents, either childcare or job performance suffers. This causes concerns, anxieties or remorse, which again hampers the job performance further. Therefore, this study may motivate the university authority around the world, specifically those in Bangladesh, to provide childcare facilities for its faculties, students and other employees. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature on growing demand for centre-based childcare services in an emerging economy context. It provides evidence of high demand for on- and off-site childcare centres to enhance work efficiency of working parents.

Abstract Background Childcare needs are an understudied social determinant of health. The effect of childcare needs on access to healthcare must be understood to inform health system interventions and policy reform. This study sought to characterize childcare needs, access to childcare, and prior experience with navigating childcare needs in healthcare settings among women in a safety-net population. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of patient-reported survey data collected in-person between April and October 2019. Surveys were administered in waiting rooms of ambulatory services in a large, urban safety-net health system in Dallas, Texas. Survey respondents were derived from a random convenience sample of women waiting for outpatient appointments. Participants were screened for having children under the age of 13 and/or childcare responsibilities for inclusion in the sample. Outcomes of interest included self-reported delayed or missed care, reasons for delayed or missed care, perceived difficulty in accessing childcare, prior methods for managing childcare during healthcare appointments, and prior experience with childcare centers. Results Among the 336 respondents (96.7% response rate), 121 (36.0%) reported delaying or missing a mean 3.7 appointments/year. Among women with delayed or missed care, 54.5% reported childcare barriers as the primary reason for deferral of care, greater than transportation (33%) or insurance (25%) barriers. Respondents rated childcare access as more difficult than healthcare access. Delayed or missed care due to childcare was more common among White (68.8%) and Black (55.0%) women compared to Hispanic women (34.3%). Common methods of navigating childcare needs during scheduled appointments included bringing children to appointments (69.1%) and re-scheduling or missing the scheduled appointment (43.0%). 40.6% of patients reported leaving an appointment before completion due to childcare needs. Conclusions Childcare needs are a leading barrier to healthcare among women accessing care in safety-net settings. Unmet childcare needs result in deferral of care, which may impact health outcomes. Childcare access is perceived as more challenging than healthcare access itself. Health system and policy interventions are needed to address childcare as a social determinant of health.

Abstract Parental stress occurs when parenting demands exceed the resources available to cope with parenting. Previous research has identified household wealth, educational level, marital status, age, and number of dependent children as predictors of parental stress. However, limited evidence exists from sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigated the sociodemographic predictors of parenting stress among mothers in Kenya and Zambia. This cross-sectional study utilised baseline secondary data from parenting intervention programs implemented in Kisumu County (rural Kenya), Nairobi County (Urban Kenya), and Chisamba District (rural Zambia). Out of 913 caregivers recruited for the parenting program, 844 with complete data were included in the analysis. The mean age was 1.0 (SD = 0.7) years. Parental stress was measured using the Parental Stress Score (PSS) tool and demographic questionnaires were used to collect demographic information. Mean PSS were compared across study sites, and a multiple linear regression model was used to examine associations between sociodemographic predictors (household income, educational level, marital status, maternal age, child age, and number of children aged

Background: Childcare needs are an understudied social determinant of health. The effect of childcare needs on access to healthcare must be understood to inform health system interventions and policy reform. This study sought to characterize childcare needs, access to childcare, and prior experience with navigating childcare needs in healthcare settings among women in a safety-net population. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of patient-reported survey data collected in-person between April and October 2019. Surveys were administered in waiting rooms of ambulatory services in a large, urban safety-net health system in Dallas, Texas. Survey respondents were derived from a random convenience sample of women waiting for outpatient appointments. Participants were screened for having children under the age of 13 and/or childcare responsibilities for inclusion in the sample. Outcomes of interest included self-reported delayed or missed care, reasons for delayed or missed care, perceived difficulty in accessing childcare, prior methods for managing childcare during healthcare appointments, and prior experience with childcare centers. Results: Among the 336 respondents (96.7% response rate), 121 (36.0%) reported delaying or missing a mean 3.7 appointments/year. Among women with delayed or missed care, 54.5% reported childcare barriers as the primary reason for deferral of care, greater than transportation (33%) or insurance (25%) barriers. Respondents rated childcare access as more difficult than healthcare access. Delayed or missed care due to childcare was more common among White (68.8%) and Black (55.0%) women compared to Hispanic women (34.3%). Common methods of navigating childcare needs during scheduled appointments included bringing children to appointments (69.1%) and re-scheduling or missing the scheduled appointment (43.0%). 40.6% of patients reported leaving an appointment before completion due to childcare needs. Conclusions: Childcare needs are a leading barrier to healthcare among women accessing care in safety-net settings. Unmet childcare needs result in deferral of care, which may impact health outcomes. Childcare access is perceived as more challenging than healthcare access itself. Health system and policy interventions are needed to address childcare as a social determinant of health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Childcare center closures during COVID-19 impacted education for approximately 40 million children nationwide. Unfortunately, COVID-19 restrictions significantly limited the extent that outside personnel could provide in-person support to educators, resulting in the need for innovative approaches to meet childcare centers' needs. A virtual robotic telepresence approach was applied to early childhood consultation models to promote child resilience while mitigating COVID-19 risks. The goal of this study was to examine how training influenced consultants' and childcare staff uptake of the virtual robotic telepresence consultation approach and their acceptance of this technology. Methods: Ten early childhood consultants received multimedia/simulation training and weekly communities of practice related to virtual telepresence robotic consultation. Telepresence robotic consultation equipment was deployed to 16 childcare centers in a diverse multilingual metropolitan area as a part of a larger randomized controlled trial. Consultants trained childcare staff (14 center directors and 58 teachers) on how to receive virtual telepresence robotic consultation. Demographic information and measures of technology acceptability and uptake were collected from childcare staff and consultants. A mixed methods approach was used including multilevel modeling and focus groups to examine consultation uptake, acceptability, barriers, and facilitators of virtual telepresence robotic consultation implementation. Results: Consultants and childcare staff generally perceived the virtual telepresence consultation approach to be useful and easy to use. Consultant perceptions of the acceptability of technology did not change over time. Childcare staff, center, and consultant factors impacted the uptake of the virtual robotic telepresence consultation approach and childcare staff acceptance of the technology. Focus groups revealed that consultants believed that additional hands-on training with childcare staff would have benefited implementation and expressed a desire for a hybrid approach for consultation. Discussion: Perceptions of telepresence robotic consultation acceptability are discussed, including future recommendations for training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant literature has demonstrated that children's diurnal stress physiology often looks different on childcare versus home days. Specifically, children experience a rise in cortisol, rather than a decline, over the day while in full‐time care. Additionally, temperamental fit within classroom environment may influence both child and teacher cortisol and outcomes. The current study investigated whether teachers' cortisol levels (n = 11) were associated with child cortisol levels (n = 71, mean age = 4.18 ± 0.81, 51% female) in the classroom while taking into account temperament, child sex assigned at birth, and classroom quality. Cortisol samples were collected on consecutive days at home and childcare for children, and at childcare for teachers. We hypothesized that (1) teacher cortisol will predict child afternoon cortisol, (2) that a portion of the variance in this relationship will be accounted for by classroom quality. Using a cross‐sectional design, children in this sample had higher cortisol values in the afternoon while at childcare than at similar times of day at home. Teachers demonstrated a typical diurnal decline across the day but variation in total cortisol output at childcare. Two distinct predictors of afternoon cortisol levels were identified in children attending childcare: child age and mean teacher cortisol levels across the day, while negative affect and classroom quality were not significant. Younger children and children whose teachers had higher mean cortisol levels were more likely to have high afternoon cortisol at childcare. Higher diurnal cortisol values for teachers may indicate a higher stress environment for both teachers and children. These preliminary findings suggest that teacher stress may not only have implications for children in terms of teacher burnout, high staff turnover, and learning, but possibly also for children's health and well‐being. Implications for research and policy, as well as limitations and strengths, are discussed. Practitioner Points: Children show higher afternoon cortisol levels, influenced by teachers with higher cortisol expressions.Younger children, particularly toddlers and preschoolers, are more susceptible to increased afternoon cortisol levels in response to teachers' stress.Efforts to reduce teacher strain and stress are crucial, not only for teacher well‐being but also for promoting positive learning outcomes and health for children in childcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity for many American workers to work from home. Did the rapid and widespread adoption of remote work arrangements influence workers' preferences? This study analyzes the early pandemic work experiences of 52 participants (20 men and 32 women) in dual-earner households with children through in-depth interviews conducted in 2021 and 2022 via Zoom. The study explores respondents' desire for remote and hybrid work, considering job satisfaction as well as job characteristics, family structure, and household organization. Unless their jobs were poorly suited to remote work, most workers with pandemic-era remote work opportunities—and even some who had not worked remotely—wished to keep remote access in their post-pandemic work arrangements. Respondents reported enhanced job satisfaction and productivity from remote work, as a result of greater schedule control and flexibility. We found that some workers were willing to change jobs to maintain their preferred work arrangement, while others acquiesced to employers' return-to-work policies. The study highlights the need to understand workers' preferences in supporting flexible work arrangements and contributes to the understanding of remote work on family dynamics during the pandemic and afterwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Many young children spend a significant portion of time in center-based childcare settings; however, these children are often not sufficiently active during care. Promoting physical activity through policy implementation is one mechanism which has the potential to increase physical activity. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to provide an overview of physical activity policies implemented in childcare centers and determine their effect on children's physical activity. Methods: Electronic searches were conducted in CINAHL, Medline, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Sports Medicine and Education Database. Two reviewers independently examined 3,286 articles to find peer-reviewed, original studies that assessed the impact of physical activity policies on children's physical activity. Random effects meta-analyses were used to determine the impact of policies. Results: A total of 13 articles met the inclusion criteria; in which 12 unique policies were implemented. Results of the meta-analyses suggest that introducing new physical activity policies did not increase children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA); however, compared to centers without a formalized physical activity policy, children in centers with a formalized policy engaged in significantly more MVPA and total physical activity. Conclusions: Introducing new physical activity policies alone may not be sufficient to increase children's engagement in physical activity, and it may be important to combine with capacity-building initiatives for childcare staff and early childhood educators. Results reinforce the value of childcare centers implementing their own formalized physical activity policies to support children's physical activity, which highlights the importance of regulating physical activity practices in childcare. Registration: CRD42022326037. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges to gender equality, particularly affecting working parents due to disruptions in daycare and school operations. It also impacted labor market opportunities for both men and women. This study investigates shifts in gender role attitudes toward maternal employment in Germany during pandemic lockdowns and subsequent periods of eased restrictions, using combined data from 2008 to early 2022. During the lockdown in early 2021, the study documents a significant decline in egalitarian attitudes, especially for men with dependent children and women without dependent children in the household. The results are discussed and interpreted against the background of various theoretical approaches. During periods of eased restrictions in early 2022, the trend reversed, and gender role attitudes recovered significantly for the same groups. The findings imply that pandemic-related changes in gender role attitudes toward maternal employment were largely transitory.HIGHLIGHTSGender role attitudes became less egalitarian during the 2021 COVID-19 lockdown in Germany.When restrictions lifted, egalitarian gender role attitudes returned, indicating the changes were largely transitory.Mothers of dependent children, who shouldered most of the additional care burden, demonstrated remarkable stability in views on gender roles.Norm-setting, social diffusion, cognitive dissonance, and defense of a cultural worldview explain variance by gender and presence of children in the household.Public support for maternal employment and childcare infrastructure is important for shaping societal norms.Gender role attitudes became less egalitarian during the 2021 COVID-19 lockdown in Germany.When restrictions lifted, egalitarian gender role attitudes returned, indicating the changes were largely transitory.Mothers of dependent children, who shouldered most of the additional care burden, demonstrated remarkable stability in views on gender roles.Norm-setting, social diffusion, cognitive dissonance, and defense of a cultural worldview explain variance by gender and presence of children in the household.Public support for maternal employment and childcare infrastructure is important for shaping societal norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined several early childhood education and care (ECEC) factors and their relation to children's salivary cortisol slope and hair cortisol concentration (HCC). The study is part of the cross-sectional DAGIS study, conducted in 2015–2016, examining 66 preschools and 677 children aged 3–6 years in Finland. Two saliva samples from one childcare day and a hair sample were collected from the children. Educators' education level, perceived stress, and occupational well-being factors, group size, child-adult ratio, and amount of childcare per week were assessed by questionnaires filled in by educators and guardians. Higher educators' education level was associated with a higher likelihood of children having a declining salivary cortisol slope. Educators with higher perceived stress were associated with a lower likelihood of children having a declining cortisol slope, but the result was attenuated in the adjusted model. Child-adult ratio was negatively associated with HCC. The results indicate that educators' higher education level and possibly lower stress associate with a favourable cortisol profile in children, suggesting less stress. These factors should receive attention when considering children's stress at childcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study examines the extent to which young people's future employment preferences in India are influenced concurrently by formal workplace policies and informal caregivers' support. Background: Scholars have focused on how young individuals' work-family ideals are shaped by workplace institutions to better understand the persistence of gender inequalities in the labor market. Yet the literature on work-family policy examines primarily the effects of formal policies, overlooking the role of informal caregivers. Consequently, we know little about the relative influence of formal and informal support on young individuals' work-family preferences and why one system may be preferred over another. Method: The study used an original survey-experimental data from an online sample of young, highly educated and unmarried respondents in India (N = 482) to assess their employment preferences when they have a family and a young child, while conditioning them to formal and informal work-family support. Logistic regressions examined the relationship between different support types and respondents' employment preferences. Results: When not conditioned to any support, most women preferred part-time and most men preferred fulltime employment. Women were twice as likely to prefer full-time employment with informal support compared to formal support, but men's preferences were not sensitive to either type of support. Conclusion: The effectiveness of work-family policies in challenging gendered behaviors depends on the credibility of formal as opposed to informal institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing literature on the politics of work–family reconciliation policies focuses primarily on women and their policy preferences as the main driver of recent policy expansions. But what do we know about male preferences? This article explores this question in an innovative way by integrating insights from economic and sociological studies of division of labor and bargaining within the household. It investigates the link between women's relative resources within the household and their male partners' preferences for different types of reconciliation policies. Drawing on regression analysis of nineteen OECD countries using the International Social Survey Program data (Family and Changing Gender Roles IV), we find that: (1) men in dual-earner households, men in college-educated educational homogamy, and men in educational hypogamy (the woman is better educated) are more likely to support reconciliation policies; and (2) women's earnings and education have different effects on men's preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We examine how working from home (WFH) affects men's participation in childcare and housework and their attitudes toward family. Because WFH is an endogenous decision, we apply a first-difference instrumental variable estimator, taking the degree to which one can work from home, measured at the individual level, as the instrument. We find that WFH increases the time that men spend on household chores and with family, and the fraction of men who consider life more important than work. Although WFH decreases their commuting time, we find no evidence that it reduces working hours or self-perceived productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysia is one of the ASEAN countries that is lagging behind others in terms of women's employment level. The main reason for the lack of women in the workforce is childbearing. This study investigates the relationship between childcare matters (availability, education, quality, and cost of childcare) and mothers' participation in the labour market. Besides, this research examined whether financial assistance relates to mothers' employment participation. With the purposive sampling technique, the questionnaires were distributed through the online platform. Of the 513 respondents who had completed the survey, 394 were working, and 119 were not working. Besides, 276 (53.8%) respondents send their children to a registered childcare centre and 101 (19.7%) to an unregistered childcare centre. Besides, 136 (26.5%) respondents personally attend to the care of their children; this includes those who alternate child-rearing responsibilities with their partners due to differing work schedules. The binary logistic regression analysis found that childcare availability and childcare cost were significant, while childcare education and childcare quality were not. With positive and significant results, bootstrap analysis established that financial assistance is a mediator between the cost of childcare and a mother's participation in the labour market. Based on the current situation in Malaysia, where financial assistance for childcare is limited and not comprehensive, this study suggests that the government increase the financial assistance provided. In addition, it is appropriate to conduct a study to provide evidence for the extent to which the existing financial assistance can help increase the participation of mothers in and continue to increase in the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substantial fraction of k-12 schools and childcare facilities in the United States closed their in-person operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. These closures may have altered the labor supply decisions of parents of affected children due to a need to be at home and take care of their children during the school day. In this paper, we examine the impact of school and childcare facility closures on parental labor market outcomes. We test whether COVID-19 facilities closures have a disproportionate impact on parents of children under 18 years old. Our results show that both women's and men's work lives were affected by school closures, with both groups seeing a reduction in the likelihood of working, work hours and the likelihood of working full-time. We also find that closures had a corresponding negative effect on the earnings of fathers of children under 18 years old, but not on mothers. These effects are concentrated among parents without a college degree, parents working in occupations that do not lend themselves to telework, and parents without other family members living at home, suggesting that such individuals had a more difficult time adjusting their work lives to school and childcare facility closures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease-19 pandemic and the accompanying public health restrictions have posed significant challenges to parents with dependent children. A rich body of literature has examined the problems encountered by parents and their gendered division of labour in childcare during the pandemic. However, little attention has been paid to their interactions and collaborations with extended family for childcare. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 43 urban parents in Shenzhen, China, I examine how parents mobilised childcare support from extended family during the pandemic, focusing on their collaboration with grandparents. Viewing parenting as a series of interactive and relational practices, I analyse how parents made new childcare arrangements and sought support from extended family to cope with work–childcare conflict and their ambivalence towards family collaboration in childcare during the pandemic. My findings highlight the significance of extended family collaboration for parents to overcome childcare challenges and reveal the embeddedness and relationality of parenting during the coronavirus disease-19 pandemic within extended family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]