Mothers' use of and beliefs about child care

Abstract

Sixty-one mothers from Victoria and South Australia took part in in-depth interviews about work and child care arrangements. In this paper for the 2004 Australian Institute of Family Studies conference Kelly Hand explores mother\u27s reasons for using child care or caring for their children at home, their views on the child care available to them and what their ideal child care arrangements would be. Differences between lone and couple mothers and between mothers in different socio-economic circumstances and geographic locations are explored