Question
A researcher is looking at family time use for child care of children ages 0-4 before and after day care policy changes in Québec.
Before the day care policy changes is not a problem. e.g., for 1986 and 1992, we know families with children ages 0-4, and the number of the children in this age range. And only for 1986, we know the activity codes between 22 and 25 cover kids ages 0-4 only. However, for 2005 and 2010 is it possible to find out:
1. The number of children in the samples ages 0-4?
2. For codes higher than 200, do these include ages 0-4? If they do, do they also include ages 5-15?
3. If these codes cover children ages 0 up to 15, is there a variable (e.g., 1992: RESC0004: Number of respondents single children aged 0-4) or combination of variables we could use to identify families with children ages 0-4?
Answer
After some discussion with the subject matter specialist, it seems what they are trying to do would be impossible.
The only codes that are meant for 0-4 are 200. Anything above 200 is a mixture of any child within the household. There are variables to verify if there is a child of 0-4 within the household, however, there is no way of knowing if the time used was for the child 0-4 years of age (unless it’s an only child).
