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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2025 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Womens Health Issues. 2023 Nov 17;34(2):115–124. doi: 10.1016/j.whi.2023.10.002

Table 2:

Childcare Precarity at Child Age 3 and Maternal Health at Child Age 9

Sample N Poor/Fair Overall Health Odds Ratio aOR (95% CI) Depression Odds Ratio aOR (95% CI) Parenting Stress Score Regression Coefficient B (95% CI)
Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 25
Insecure childcare1 1716 1.29 0.95, 1.75 1.15 0.84, 1.59 1.69*** 1.27, 2.25 1.64** 1.23, 2.18 0.29* 0.01, 0.58 0.12 −0.16, 0.40
Insecure childcare with missed work2 1716 1.41 0.99, 2.02 1.33 0.90, 1.95 1.69** 1.21, 2.37 1.58** 1.13, 2.22 0.15 −0.20, 0.51 0.01 −0.34, 0.37
Inadequate childcare3 1716 1.68** 1.15, 2.46 1.64* 1.11, 2.41 1.90*** 1.33, 2.70 1.75** 1.22, 2.51 0.48* 0.08, 0.87 0.09 −0.31, 0.48
Emergency childcare support4 (full sample) 2836 0.59*** 0.44, 0.79 0.65** 0.48, 0.88 0.66** 0.49, 0.88 0.73* 0.54, 0.99 −0.55** −0.90, −0.20 −0.45* −0.80, −0.10
Emergency childcare support4 (in childcare only) 1716 0.75 0.48, 1.15 0.83 0.52, 1.31 0.78 0.50, 1.20 0.85 0.55, 1.33 −0.46 −0.93, 0.004 −0.41 −0.86, 0.05
Emergency childcare support4 (ever worked ages 1,3,5) 2701 0.56*** 0.42, 0.76 0.62** 0.45, 0.85 0.64** 0.47, 0.86 0.71* 0.52, 0.97 −0.62** −0.99, −0.26 −0.54** −0.90, −0.18

Models examine associations between childcare precarity risk at age 3 and maternal health at age 9. Poor/Fair Overall Health and Depression estimates are odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (aOR [95% CI]). Parenting stress results are unstandardized coefficients of change in parenting stress scores with 95% confidence intervals (B [95% CI]). Model 1 controls for child sex, firstborn status, temperament, maternal age, race, ethnicity, education level, work/school status, marital status, income, multiple birth, childcare center use, number of concurrent childcare arrangements; Model 2 controls for all variables in Model 1 plus the corresponding maternal health variable at when child was 1.

*

p<0.05;

**

p<0.01;

***

p<0.001

1

Having to make special arrangements at least once over the past month because the child’s usual childcare arrangement fell through.

2

Having to miss work or school at least once over the past month because the child’s usual childcare arrangement fell through.

3

Having to quit a job, school, or training activity due to problems arranging childcare or keeping a childcare arrangement.

4

Having someone to count on to help with emergency childcare over the next year.

5

Parenting stress not assessed in 2 cities at age 1; n=2,467 for full sample and n=1,513 for sample in childcare; n= 2,348 for sample ever worked when child aged 1, 3, or 5.