Anyway, the results were as follows:
1. If all costs were equal, what would be your first choice for childcare?
50% of you said that one parent staying home would be your first choice.
33% of you said that an in-home nanny would be your first choice.
16% of you said that a daycare facility would be your first choice.
0% said "other"
n=18
2. What would be your second choice?
0% of you said one parent staying home would be your 2nd choice.
58% of you said an in-home nanny
42% of you said a daycare facility.
0% of you said "other"
n=12
3. What would be your third choice?
0% of you said one parent staying home
33% of you said an in-home nanny
33% of you said a daycare facility
33% of you said "other
n=12
No real suprises here in these results, especially considering my main audience still consists of PhDs, grad students, and stay-at-home moms. However, there are still some things I am curious about.
First, those of you who said that a daycare facility would be your first choice even if all costs were equal - I am very curious to know your reasons for choosing that option. The main reason I wanted to take this poll was to get some outside opinion and hopefully help settle a disagreement between my husband and I about our childcare options. He would prefer to put our son in daycare and I would prefer a nanny. So those of you out there who prefer daycare, can you tell me more about your thoughts?
And second, those of you who chose "other" as your third option - what types of arrangements fall into that category for you? I couldn't find a poll with a write-in response option.
Problems with my poll: Inconsistent sample size - I have a different n for the last 2 polls, with the most people responding to the first question only. Also, I could not create a poll that would collect the information I was looking for in the most comprehensive, easy, and straightforward manner possible. So all in all, the information I collected is very faulty for these reasons - there are too many confounding variables.
Guess I won't be publishing this one anytime soon......
6 comments:
I didn't fill out your poll, but considering childcare options I'd prefer having my child in a quality daycare center over having an in-home nanny. Daycare centers are licensed and regulated, and there are multiple staff in the room at any one time. The staff must have a certain level of training, and at the best centers, the staff undergo continual professional development. With an in-home nanny, you can get recommendations, but you don't have an extra set of eyes in your home to see what is actually going on during the day. Additionally, with a nanny, your nanny can quit at any time, which can leave you in a lurch unexpectedly. The key, however, is that you must research daycare centers, and look for a high quality daycare center with low staff turnover, low child to caregiver ratios, and a philosophy you are comfortable with.
We had college kids come in and take care of DS for the first 8 months while we were there in a mother's helper situation. I went into campus MW and DH went in T/Th. It worked out pretty well. Then we switched to daycare. If we have a #2 I think we'll try to do that again.
We chose to go with a daycare over a nanny for many of the same reasons Melissa stated. In addition, we really like the social aspect of daycares, as well as their educational programming and field trip opportunities.
Disclaimer: I have no children, nor have any plans for having children.
For me, having a relative (grandparent, aunt, uncle or the like) would be the first choice. But my situation is probably unusual for most of your readers, I work in the same location I have a lot of family members. The next choice would be daycare, for some of the same reasons Melissa mentioned, but also because of the fact that they would probably do a better job of child-rearing then I would. Before someone jumps me, I think that the job of the parent is to raise a responsible, caring adult, not be the 'best' mother or father. (I also don't believe that being a stay at home parent is the best choice for a lot of people, however culturally it's believed to be the best option, and a lot of people don't think about what is best for them, which is way stay at home parent usually ends up being the top choice for a lot of these kinds of polls.)
I also prefer daycare, for the same reasons mentioned already. Especially as they get older, and the term "nursery school" becomes much more applicable than "daycare". I worked in an infant room in college, and I have a lot of respect for the training and regulations that a good center follows. For the same reasons, I've steered away from in-home daycare options. Although I'm sure there are some out there that are wonderful.
That said, if we had a more irregular schedule, nighttime or late night shifts, or needed part time care, a nanny would definitely be a nice option.
Just linked this article on my facebook account. it’s a very interesting article for all.
Kids Day Care
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