The Role of Household Income and Parental Work Schedules on Childcare Satisfaction

This project investigates how household income and parental working schedules influence childcare satisfaction and perceived enjoyment among parents in Australia. The findings aim to support evidence-based policy recommendations for early learning and workplace flexibility.

Objective

To assess whether:

1. Household income significantly impacts parental satisfaction with childcare.
2. Working schedules affect parents' reported enjoyment of childcare.

Client

The Hon. Prue Car, MP
Deputy Premier, Minister for Education and Early Learning, NSW

As the Minister responsible for early childhood policy in New South Wales, this report was developed to provide insights into how family-friendly workplace practices and income levels intersect with childcare satisfaction.

Methodology

• Data Source: National parental survey data (anonymized)
• Statistical Tests Used:
  • Shapiro-Wilk Test for normality
  • Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test (non-parametric)
• Key Metrics:
  • Childcare enjoyment scores (1–7)
  • Satisfaction scores by household income group
• Visualisations:
  • Comparative box plot by work schedule
  • Bar chart with error bars by income bracket

Key Findings

• Work Schedule Insight: Parents with flexible or split/on-call shifts reported higher enjoyment in childcare.
• Income Insight: While higher income groups showed slightly higher satisfaction, the relationship was not statistically significant (p = 0.07088).
• Statistical Conclusion: No strong evidence to suggest household income alone significantly affects childcare satisfaction.

Policy Recommendation

Raise awareness and promote family-friendly workplace arrangements, especially for fathers, to increase parental engagement and satisfaction with childcare.

Tools & Libraries

• R (ggplot2, gganimate)
• Quarto (.qmd for report generation)
• Hypothesis testing modules from course material

Ethics & Limitations

• All data was anonymized to protect respondent privacy
• Sampling assumed to be random and independent
• Economic and workplace conditions assumed stable during study period

Acknowledgements

• Flexible Work Policy Research Article
• Statistics and Hypothesis Testing Lecture Notes
• Canvas course materials and modules