Uptake of Childcare Arrangements—Grandparental Availability and Availability of Formal Childcare

Grandparents constitute an important source of childcare to many parents. Focusing on the Belgian context, this paper improves our understanding decision-making by investigating how formal availability and grandparents affect arrangements. By means multinomial regression models we simultaneously model uptake informal Combining linked microdata from censuses with contextual data at level municipalities, consider a local level, while including wide array characteristics which may grandparental availability. Results indicate that increasing care crowds-out as sole arrangement, whereas combined use becomes more prevalent. Characteristics indicating lack grandmaternal increase inhibit lesser extent care. While substitutes use, be problematic, particularly for those families most prone