DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The broad goals of this study are to strengthen our understanding of the child care decisions and experiences of low-income families living in economically disadvantaged urban communities, and of the implications of child care experiences for the health and well-being of children and mothers. The passage of welfare reform and related social policy and economic changes in the late 1990's led to a surge of maternal employment among low-income and unmarried mothers, and to related increases in the use of child care for low-income children. Yet, researchers have limited knowledge concerning low-income families' selection of non-parental care settings and the implications of these experiences for the health and well-being of children and mothers. Based on bioecological theories that posit the importance of bidirectional processes influencing human development, the proposed research seeks to increase knowledge in these arenas through three research aims. First, the study will assess which characteristics of children and families are associated with selection into child care type and quality, paying particular attention to factors that place families at risk for selecting into low quality and unreliable child care. Second, the study will examine how child care experiences promote or inhibit the economic and psychological functioning of economically disadvantaged women. Third, the research will consider the implications of non-parental care experiences on low-income children's cognitive, socioemotional, and physical development, following children through central transitions into elementary school. With an in-depth, multi-method focus on low-income families in low-income urban communities, the project will provide a host of important new information on a set of topics of central concern to policy makers, educators, and researchers. Data will be drawn from the Three-City Study, a longitudinal, multi-method study of the well-being of low-income children, families, and communities in the wake of welfare reform. Data include structured observations and maternal reports of child care quality; direct assessments, child, mother, and teacher reports of child well-being; and maternal reports of mother and family functioning. The three research aims will be assessed through lagged OLS and multinomial probit regression analyses. Results from the proposed research will notably expand the current limited knowledge base addressing the non-parental care experiences of low-income children and their mothers. In turn, results will help to inform federal, state, and local programs and policies aimed at facilitating women's employment and promoting low-income children's healthy development. Non-parental child care arrangements have become an important context for early childhood development in the U.S., with more than 2/3s of preschool age children attending child care or preschool programs. Hence, child care settings have the potential to support or hinder the healthy development of children and the economic and social functioning of mothers, potential that may be exacerbated in low-income families facing limited economic and social resources. The proposed research will assess factors which select families into particular child care experiences, and the implications of such child care experiences on low-income children's healthy development through middle childhood, and on mothers' ability to provide economically and socially supportive environments for children.