Using a telephone survey of 396 participants, the present study examined the child care practices and preferences of native- and foreign-born Latina mothers in two Southern California communities and compared them to Euro-American mothers. Results showed that native-born Latina mothers had more relatives available to provide child care, and that they relied more on relatives for their current child care arrangement than both foreign-born Latina mothers and Euro-American mothers. Euro-American mothers used child care centers more than the two groups of Latino mothers. More native-born Latina mothers indicated a successful match between their current and preferred child care arrangement. Both foreign-born Latina mothers and Euro-American mothers indicated they would prefer to increase their use of relatives. In addition, more foreign-born Latina mothers indicated they would prefer to increase their use of child care centers.
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