Beyond an “Either–Or” approach to home- and center-based child care: Comparing children and families who combine care types with those who use just one

•About one-fifth of 4-year-olds in a national sample attended both home- and center-based non-parental child care.•Mothers who prioritized school readiness were more likely to combine home-based care with a center than use home care only.•Mothers who prioritized cultural similarity were more likely to combine center-based care with a home than use a center only.•Children attending centers, alone or along with home care, averaged higher reading and math scores than those in homes only.•Results were inconsistent for children's average socioemotional outcomes when they did and did not combine care types.

Most research focuses on preschoolers’ primary non-parental child care arrangement despite evidence that multiple arrangements are relatively common. Using the nationally-representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort, we compare characteristics and outcomes of families whose 4-year olds attend both home- and center-based child care with those who attend either home- or center-based care exclusively or receive no non-parental care at all. We find that about one fifth of 4-year olds attend both home- and center-based child care. Mothers’ priorities for care (getting their child ready for school, matching their families’ cultural background) and perceptions of good local care options predict their combining home- and center-based care. Preschoolers score higher on reading and math assessments, on average, when they attend centers, alone or in combination with home-based child care, than when they are cared for only in homes, either by their parents or by others. Preschoolers’ average socioemotional outcomes generally do not differ between families who do and who do not combine care types. Implications for research and policy are discussed.