The demand for non-relative child care among preschoolers: a double-hurdle approach.

Survey data indicate that many parents do not use non-parental care for their young children even when both parents work. Previous studies of the demand for child care assumed that all parents respond to financial incentives. Since non-consumption may be the result of social psychological or ethical considerations and unconnected with price and income levels this assumption may not be appropriate. To assess the sensitivity of child care demand estimates to assumptions about reasons for non-consumption we estimate the demand for non-relative care for preschoolers with double-hurdle tobit and dominance models. The results suggest that both financial and non-financial considerations lead to zero child care consumption that the decision to use any care differs from the decision of how many hours of care to use and that estimates vary by the childs age. (authors)