Child care arrangement costs and the supply of labour of working parents in Kota Kinabalu

• Main Author: Thirunaukarasu Subramaniam
• Format: Research Report
• Language: English; English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sabah 2000
• Subjects: HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/23424/1/Child%20Care%20Arrangement%20costs%20and%20the%20supply%20of%20labour%20of%20working%20parents%20in%20Kota%20Kinabalu.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/23424/7/Child%20Care%20Arrangement.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/23424/

Child care plays an important role in the supply of labour of working parents especially for women. Quality and reliable child care is important in order to enhance the performance of working parents, to reduce worry and to increase their productivity in the workplace. It is obvious that child care can be expensive. This study analyses different types of childcare arrangement that is available in Kota Kinabalu namely baby-sitter, relatives, child-care centers, domestic helper, playschool and preschool. 'f!1e study found that on average families spend about RM261.64 per month for childcare expenditure. This constitutes about 8.83 percent of a family's monthly income. The burden these child care expenditures place on families can be substantial. A mother will only decide to work if the cost of childcare is lesser than the wage received from particular employment. If the cost of childcare is higher than the wage received or consumes a large portion of their income, than the mother would make the decision not to work. This in turn will reduce the participation rate of women in the labour force. To address this problem, costsharing and flexible job arrangement should be seen as possible alternatives.