Attachment K Incentive Justification

Attachment K: Incentive Justification

Multiple sources were consulted in order to estimate the average cost of hourly childcare for potential research participants. The US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics provides national mean hourly rates for different Standard Occupational Classifications (SOC)¹. The national mean hourly wages for the two SOCs that most closely relate to the short-term childcare that participants would require: Personal Care Aides and Childcare Workers were listed at $10.16 and $10.66 respectively.

However, we feel that these figures provide an artificially low estimate for the cost to participants for short-term childcare (babysitters, nannies, community care) for two reasons. First, these hourly wages combine a broad range of occupations within each general SOC, most of which would not apply to the care participants would need. Second, the hourly wage of many of these workers does not represent what parents would pay, as the wages do not include the operational costs.

The two most recent annual surveys conducted by website Urbansitter.org of parent members revealed a much higher average hourly cost of babysitters than provided by the BLS data. The 2013 UrbanSitter.org study surveyed 6,000 parents from 12 metropolitan areas about the hourly rates they provide babysitters for caring for one, two, and three 3 children. The average hourly rate was $13.06 per hour and across all locations and number of children (see table 1). In 2014, the survey was repeated with 7,500 parents across 9 metropolitan areas (St. Louis, Dallas, and Philadelphia were dropped without a justification). For this sample, the average hourly rate was $14.93, again across all locations and number of children (see table 2). It is possible that these rates are inflated by the inclusion of metropolitan areas with a high cost of living (e.g. San Francisco, New York City, and Boston).

Table 1 - 2013 Study or 6,000 Parents on UrbanSitter.org
	1 Child	2 Children	3 Children	Mean
Boston	$12.00	$13.75	$15.50	$13.75
Chicago	$12.00	$12.50	$15.00	$13.17
Dallas	$10.00	$11.25	$12.25	$11.17
Denver	$10.25	$11.25	$14.25	$11.92
Los Angeles	$12.50	$13.75	$16.25	$14.17
NYC	$13.50	$14.75	$16.50	$14.92
Philadelphia	$10.25	$10.75	$11.50	$10.83
San Francisco	$14.00	$16.75	$14.50	$15.08
San Diego	$10.25	$12.50	$19.25	$14.00
Seattle	$10.25	$13.25	$15.00	$12.83
St Louis	$9.75	$11.50	$12.50	$11.25
DC	$12.25	$13.50	$15.00	$13.58
	Full Sample Mean			$13.06

Table 2 - 2014 Study of 7,500 Parents on Urbansitter.org
	1 Child	2 Children	3 Children	Mean
Boston	$13.64	$15.66	$16.77	$15.36
Chicago	$11.91	$14.07	$15.00	$13.66
Denver	$10.84	$12.26	$14.24	$12.45
Los Angeles	$13.53	$15.87	$17.94	$15.78
NYC	$15.34	$16.76	$18.74	$16.95
San Francisco	$14.99	$17.68	$19.46	$17.38
San Diego	$11.11	$13.28	$14.82	$13.07
Seattle	$12.80	$14.83	$15.47	$14.37
DC	$13.83	$15.27	$16.95	$15.35
		Full Sample Mean		$14.93

Taken together, the available data provides a range of mean hourly wages from $10.16 to $14.93 per hour. Given the range of figures provided by the available data sources, we propose using a conservative estimate of $12.50 per hour for childcare, in order to insure that the cost of childcare for low-income families of varying family circumstances will not prohibited peer counselors from participating. Parents will also be compensated $5 for incidental expenses incurred during their transportation to and from the focus group facility. This figure is derived from the GSA contractor rates for daily per diems.

The total amount of time peer counselors may require childcare is estimated at 1.5 hours, including travel to and from the facility and participation in the 1 hour in depth interview. We therefore strongly advise a $25 stipend to cover the cost of childcare to participate in the in-depth interview.

1 See http://www.bls.gov/soc/home.htm for a list and explanation of Standard Occupational Codes