To Investigate the Impact of Child Care Costs on Working Mothers, Their Careers and Families in Britain

By

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Aim of the Study1

Rationale of the Study1

Hypothesis1

Research Questions2

Significance of the Study2

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW3

Theoretical Framework3

Employed British Mothers and Child Care3

Factors influencing mothers' decision for child care arrangements3

Income3

Work Hours3

Work Structure4

Race and Ethnicity4

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY5

Research Approach5

Research Design5

Study Sample5

Data Collection and Instrumentation6

Primary Data Collection6

Secondary Data Collection6

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION7

Results7

Discussion16

CHAPTER 5: FUTURE RESEARCH AND SUGGESTION17

Future Research17

Suggestions17

REFERENCES18

APPENDIX - A19

ABSTRACT

Spending on child care has become of the most important concerns for working mothers in the United Kingdom. The first chapter provides aim of the research, alongwith rationale and hypothesis of the study. The second chapter covers the literature review. The third chapter is based on methodology section and provides information about research design, data collection, and sample size of the study. The results and discussion are provided in the fourth chapter, while the fifth chapter concludes the dissertation.



CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Aim of the Study

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the Impact of Child Care Costs on Working Mothers, their careers and their families.

Rationale of the Study

The researcher has chosen to investigate on this topic because it has recently become a social issue affecting so many families in United Kingdom, especially the working mothers. Women used to be full time housewives looking after the children and taking care of all household needs whilst the men were the breadwinners expected to look after the family economically.

Hypothesis

The following null and alternative hypotheses were included in this study:

Ho: The increasing child care costs have drastically influenced the social behaviours of working mothers.

Ha: The increasing child care costs have no influence on the social behaviours of working mothers.

Research Questions

Following research questions were included in this study:

RQ1: Is it costing more for working mothers to cater for their children?

RQ2: Is child care cost forcing working mothers to take up second jobs or the contrary to ending their working careers?

RQ3: To what extent is child care cost affecting working mothers and their respective families.

RQ4: Are there any other factors besides costs that can force women to be out of work and take care of their children?

Significance of the Study

By exploring the consequences of British family policies on employed mothers' strategies to reconcile their employment and childcare responsibilities, this research will demonstrate that British family policies create an emotional risk for employed mothers (Bredekamp, 2007, 74).

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Theoretical Framework

The British family policy gap is widest because of the short leave, the comparatively small amount of publicly subsidised family childcare or daycare for children younger than three and a half years, and the high cost of market-based childcare (Ehrich, 2009, 58).

Employed British Mothers and Child Care

In Britain, a considerable number of mothers of preschoolers are in the paid labour force today. In Britain, the number of mothers with children younger than five years who were economically active outside the home rose from 32% in 1991 to 54% in 2001 (Lally, 2007, ...