Childcare utilisation by migration background: Evidence from a nationally representative Irish cohort study

Scholarship has highlighted the potentially equalising effects of early childhood education and care (ECEC), which may be particularly relevant for children living in immigrant households. However, it is crucial to consider which children are more likely to experience certain types of care. Drawing on recent, nationally representative, longitudinal data from Ireland (N = 7516), this paper presents new evidence on how childcare choices differ between Irish-born and immigrant households, and how these differences may be explained. Compared to children from Irish-born households, children of migrant descent were more likely to be in formal care relative to informal care. However, children from non-English speaking immigrant households were less likely to be in both informal and formal care than parental care. Children from English speaking immigrant households were also slightly less likely to be in informal care than parental care, though there was no difference in the risk of formal care over parental care. Differences in socio-demographic and other relevant characteristics played an essential role in explaining these differential childcare utilisation patterns, with the equivalised household income, maternal employment prior to birth, and social support being among the most important explanatory variables. This suggests that children of migrant origin might be less likely to benefit from ECEC, which may also have negative consequences for their mothers’ labour force participation.