Research on Job Satisfaction of Child Care Providers in Taipei County

Autor: LU.Yen-Chen, 路燕琴
Rok vydání: 2007
Druh dokumentu: 學位論文 ; thesis
Popis: 96
The purpose of this study is to investigate the job satisfaction of childcare workers of Taipei County and factors that may affect their job satisfaction. Hopefully through the result of this study we can render some insights and suggestions to assist the childcare industry and related authorities to formulate policies regarding childcare workers. Using the survey method, this study has adopted quota-sampling to survey Peng Wan-ru Foundation, Taipei County Childcare Association, Chinese Mother-Bear Nanny Association, the Childcare Workers Union, the National Association for Woman and Child Welfare, and childcare members who have participated in the Community Babysitter Support System of Taipei County. This analysis is based on questionnaires of 550 samples, among which 523 are effective. The effective rate of retrievals is 95%. This study has applied: Personal Background Inventory and Job Satisfaction scale as survey tools. Statistical analysis used in the study includes frequency distribution, percentage, mean, standard deviation, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe Post-hoc Test, Pearson’s product-moment correlation, and multiple regression. This survey yields statistical results as follows: 1. Demography of Childcare Workers a. The mean age of childcare workers is 46, with nearly 50% of them ranging from 40 to 49. b. The education level of approximately 60% of childcare workers is senior or vocational high school. c. The average length of service for childcare providers is 9 years, with 35% of them ranging from 6 to 10 years, and 33% under 5 years. d. Nearly 50% of the workers who provide care to one or two children has an income between NT$ 25,000 and NT$ 30,000. e. About 60% of the workers provide “day” care. f. About 44% of the workers take care of one child, while 42% of them provide care to two children, indicating that most childcare workers in our survey have one or two children in their childcare business. g. Concerning work challenges, nearly 80% of our workers feel their job to be “challenging”. h. About 80% of workers consider their professional training to be “sufficient”. i. Approximate 60% of the workers feel work pressure, 15% of whom describe their jobs to be “very stressful”. j. Work pressure of childcare workers comes from several sources, such as maintenance of children’s safety, mental stress, and lack of long-term income security. k. The family type of nearly 80% of our childcare workers is “core family with both parents”. l. The marital status of approximate 90% of workers is “married”. m. Nearly 64% of workers have one or two children of their own, about a half of which have two kids. n. About 60% of childcare workers’ spouses have graduated from senior high school, vocational high school, or junior professional college. o. The family income of 54% of childcare workers ranges between NT$ 50,000 and 60,000. p. About 75% of our childcare workers obtain “strong supports” from family members to provide in-home care services. q. Nearly 63% of childcare workers feel their marital life to be “very satisfactory”. r. The collective job satisfaction of our sample interviewees appears to be “somewhat satisfactory”; the most satisfactory factor is “employer-employee relationship”, and thereafter, the ranking is, respectively, “social status”, “self-worth”, “personal accomplishment”, and “income satisfaction”. 2. Analyses of relationship between childcare workers’ personal background and job satisfaction a. Job satisfaction differs significantly among different age categories of childcare workers. Satisfaction is much higher in the category of 50 to 59 years of age than in the categories of 40 to 49 and 30 to 39. b. In one-way ANOVA analysis, significant difference is found in job satisfaction of childcare workers of different education levels. However, a further analysis using Scheffe Post-hoc Test doesn’t find any difference in job satisfaction of childcare workers of different education levels. c. Job satisfaction of childcare workers differs significantly with “length of service”, where satisfaction is much higher in the categories of 11 to 15 and 16 to 20 years of service than in the category of under 5 years. 3. Analyses of relationship between childcare workers’ job satisfaction and work background a. Job satisfaction differs significantly in different levels of income, where satisfaction is remarkably higher in income level of “above NT$ 30,001” than in levels of “NT$ 25,001 to 30,000”, “NT$ 15,000 to 20,000”, and “under NT$ 15,000”. b. “The number of children taken care of” greatly influences job satisfaction of childcare workers, where satisfaction is higher for workers taking care of three children than those taking care of just one child. c. A lower positive correlation is observed between “work challenges” and “job satisfaction”; the greater work challenges they encounter, the higher job satisfaction they experience. d. A lower positive correlation is found between “professional training” and “job satisfaction”; the more professional training they receive, the higher job satisfaction they experience. e. A weak positive correlation is found between “work pressure” and “job satisfaction”; the greater work pressure they perceive, the lower job satisfaction they experience. f. Workers with different “main sources of work pressure” have very different job satisfaction. Remarkably higher satisfaction is found in workers whose work pressure comes from “reluctance to let go children that they take care of” than those whose work pressure comes from “mental stress”. 4. Analyses of the relationship between childcare workers’ family background and job satisfaction a. Workers with different “monthly family income” have significantly different job satisfaction, where those with a monthly family income of “NT$ 60,000 or more” have remarkably higher job satisfaction than those with a monthly family income of “NT$ 30,000 to 40,000”. b. A lower positive correlation is found between “supports from family members” and “job satisfaction”; the more family supports they receive, the higher job satisfaction they experience. c. A lower positive correlation is found between “marital satisfaction” and “job satisfaction”; the higher marital satisfaction they perceive, the higher job satisfaction they experience. 5. Predictions on job satisfaction of childcare workers a. The most effective predictors for childcare workers’ job satisfaction are “age”, “wage”, “work challenges”, “professional training”, “work pressure”, “family type”, “numbers of children in family”, “education of spouse”, “supports from family members”, and “marital life with spouse”. Among them, significant negative correlation is found between job satisfaction and “work pressure”, “numbers of children in family”, and “education of spouse”. 6. Analyses of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction of childcare workers a. The top 3 reasons for workers to experience higher job satisfaction are, respectively, “self-accomplishment from children’s growth and feedback”, “the advantage of making money while being able to take care of family”, and “trust and approval from children’s parents”. b. The top 3 reasons for workers to experience job dissatisfaction are, respectively, “parents not cooperating and difficult communication with parents”, “long working hours with instable holidays”, and “low income, unstable work, and delayed payments from children’s parents” The findings of this study suggest that childcare workers of younger age and less experience should learn from more experienced workers and workers of older age. The analyses also indicate that to experience higher job satisfaction, childcare workers should continue to receive professional trainings, make efforts to gain more family supports, manage marital relationship, improve communication skills with parents, develop ability of pressure control, and maintain a mood of happiness. On the other hand, children’s parents and care providers should together follow and duly execute their childcare contracts, and enhance their communication and relationship. To promote childcare trainings, the government and related authorities should continue to devise and provide more practical training courses to match the needs of childcare workers, and arrange forums and meetings to encourage the sharing and passing down of work experience. The government should also regulate minimum wages for childcare workers, and establish professional institutions that can handle the complaints and provide coordination and childcare counseling services. Keywords: childcare workers, job satisfaction
Databáze: Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations
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