Database name:
National Child Care Survey

Thematic Coverage:
This survey collected data on Canadian economic families child care needs, use patterns and parental preferences and concerns. As well, relationships among family, work and child care were examined.
Maintained by:
Special Surveys Division, Statistics Canada
Availability:
A public version of the file is available through the Data Liberation Initiative (DLI). Some variables are suppressed and other are aggregated to protect the anonymity of individual survey respondents. Custom tabulations are available on a cost recovery basis.



Start Date:
1987
Release Date:
N/A - Discontinued
Frequency of collection:
One time



Data Collection:
Economic families with at least one child aged 12 or under. Data concerning all children in the family from a randomly selected household collected through telephone or personal interview. The parent with primary responsibility for making child care arrangements was asked to answer the survey questionnaire.
Sample size:
Approximately 24,155 families, representing 2,724,300 families and 4,658,500 children aged 12 and under.



Geographic coverage:
All provinces, excluding residents of Territories, inmates of institutions, full-time members of the Armed Forces and residents of First Nation reserves.
Lowest geographic
level collected:
Postal Code; the LFS uses a probability sample based on a stratified multi-stage design. The ultimate sampling unit of selection is the dwelling.
Lowest geographic
level of release:
Estimates produced at national/provincial level. Economic region (aggregated Census Divisions) and Census Metropolitan Area estimates are also available.
Existing rural variable:
Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) / Non-CMA are coded. Prince Edward Island has no CMA and the CMAs of Montreal and Toronto were each separate strata.

Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) / Census Agglomeration (CA) and Non-CMA can be used as an urban / rural variable. CMA/CA and Non-CMA/CA can be used to construct a 5-level rural/urban variable. Urban core, urban fringe and rural fringe distinguish between central and peripheral urban and rural areas within a census metropolitan area (CMA) or census agglomeration (CA). Urban core is a large urban area around which a CMA or a CA is delineated. The urban core must have a population (based on the previous census) of at least 100,000 persons in the case of a CMA, or between 10,000 and 99,999 persons in the case of a CA. The urban core of a CA that has been merged with an adjacent CMA or larger CA is called the secondary urban core. Urban fringe is the urban area within a CMA or CA that is not contiguous to the urban core. It has a minimum population of 1,000 and a population density of at least 400 per square kilometre, based on the previous census counts. Rural fringe is all territory within a CMA or CA not classified as an urban core or an urban fringe. The other levels of geography in this classification are urban area (small towns) that lie outside of CMA and rural area lying outside of CMA.

Rural definitions that can be constructed from this database include (building block)*:
Census "rural areas"
(Enumeration Area)
Rural and Small Town definition
(Census Subdivision)
Metropolitan area and census agglomeration Influenced Zones
(Census Subdivision)
OECD "rural communities" definition
(Census Consolidated Subdivision)
OECD "predominantly rural regions" definition
(Census Division)
Ehrensaft's "Beale codes"
(Census Division)
* Results for these areas of geography could conceivably be derived from postal codes if respondent confidentiality is ensured.



Data Elements:
  • Demography
  • Education/literacy/training
  • Families, Household Characteristics
  • Child care arrangements
  • Child characteristics
  • General Health of Child(ren)
  • Income and Employment

Notes:
Ninety-five percent of respondents were mothers.

For more information, contact the Special Surveys Division ssd@statcan.ca

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