Usage and Quality of Formal Child Care Services Experienced by Infants and Toddlers in Foster and Kinship Care: An Australian Study

Abstract

This research uses data from the Early Childhood in Foster and Kinship Care (ECIFKC) study to identify the proportion of young children, under 2 years of age, in foster and kinship care who use formal child care; weekly hours of child care; predictors of weekly hours of child care; and quality of care experienced. The sample for these analyses involved 39 foster and kinship care children. A higher proportion of ECIFKC children used child care compared to same-aged Australian peers and experienced more weekly hours of child care than other Australian children. Quality of child care was broadly the same as for other young Australian children. Factors associated with more weekly hours of child ..