Childcare Information Seeking Behaviour of Parents

Parents’ ability to access good quality information is the lifeline to good family outcomes, just as access to good quality childcare offers a child the best start in life. Pioneering information seeking behaviour study in the field of childcare, this research identifies that family outcomes are determined by their information behaviour, demand on systems, social networks, information sources and other symptomatic influencing factors including trust, quality, cost, staff, time and values.

The research builds on existing theoretical approaches by integrating a multi-theoretical approach to facilitate a comprehensive analysis of parents’ childcare information-seeking behaviour which reveals that the childcare information-seeking process is characterised by information behaviours such as sense making, information authentication, information berry-picking, and in some cases information avoidance based on parents’ experience, system complexity, or family values.

Identifying patterns of childcare information-seeking behaviour, the research builds a model that reflects the four categories of information sources parents consult or engage with during the period. Recognising the major barriers to information seeking, the research accentuates the critical success factors required to improve parents’ experience when looking for childcare to inform future policies, practice and development.