Relevance of child characteristics for the envisaged and real start of childcare attendance for the under-3s in Germany

Although there are many studies on the use of childcare, most German research has focused on the role of socio-economic factors such as parents’ level of education, household income, or migration background. Little is known about the role of child characteristics such as health or temperament. Using longitudinal data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS, N = 2630 and N = 1891), this study investigated the impact of child characteristics on when parents envisage and actually start using childcare for a national representative sample. Results showed small direct effects of child characteristics and interaction effects of child characteristics and parental beliefs. Parents whose children had a difficult temperament envisaged an early entry in childcare, expecting that attendance would benefit their child’s development. It is concluded that in the German early childhood and education system child characteristics play a minor role. In contrast, parent’s beliefs and expectation play a crucial role on parent’s envisaged and real entry in childcare.