Childcare Arrangements as Related to Perceptions of Job Stress Work-Family Conflict and Parenting Stress

Sixty-nine male and 40 female full-time employees of the Ford Motor company completed a survey assessing the relationships between satisfaction with childcare (i.e., overall satisfaction with childcare, satisfaction with cost, satisfaction with provider, satisfaction with hours of operation, and satisfaction with location) and overall stress, job stress, work-family conflict, and parenting stress. Although most respondents were satisfied with the child's provider, and moderately satisfied with their childcare arrangements overall and with the location of their childcare, the typical respondent was dissatisfied with the cost of childcare and neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the hours of operation. Job stress was correlated with work-family conflict and perception of overall stress; however, parenting stress was not related to other measures of stress examined. Overall satisfaction with childcare, satisfaction with cost of childcare, and satisfaction with hours of childcare were significantly and negatively correlated with overall perception of stress, job stress, and work-family conflict. These results support the burgeoning literature on the relationship between satisfaction with childcare and job and family stress. Results also suggest the significance of childcare for the psychological health and well-being of manufacturing employees and their families.