MAG 2024. Authors: Verena Seibel (Universiteit Utrecht – Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen); Alzbeta Bartova (KU Leuven); Mara Yerkes (Universiteit Utrecht – Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen); Mehri Zamanbin (Utrecht University).
Easily accessible, affordable, and high-quality childcare is important for both children and parents. It particularly helps children with a migration background with their social and language development and enables migrant parents to increase their economic integration within Dutch society. Yet, parents with a migration background use childcare services less than parents without a migration background. Our recent research shows that migrant parents often lack knowledge about childcare and perceive it as less accessible. This study investigates why this is the case, taking a social network approach by examining whether the childcare behavior within migrant parents’ social network (connections with families, friends, neighbors, and colleagues) influences their childcare knowledge and perceptions and thus their childcare usage. The results of this study will provide much-needed information that policymakers can use to improve Dutch childcare accessibility for migrant parents in the Netherlands.