Description of the Private Child-Care Market in Kuwait and Assessment of the Delivered Service Quality: An Empirical Investigation

Abstract

This research is concerned with the usage behavior of private child-care centers in Kuwait. It also focuses on the assessment of the service quality provided by child-care providers. The results revealed that users of foreign child-care centers tend to be significantly different from their counterparts of Arabic child-care centers in terms of mother's nationality and age, father's education, and family income. Wives alone, or with husbands, often play more than one role in making the buying decision of child-care service; they are initiators, influencers, and purchasers. Among the key motives of using the child care service are: developing the child's personality and self-independency, providing the needed behavioral and social skills, and looking after the children while their parents are at work. Finally, the key determinants of the quality of child-care service involve treatment, empathy responsiveness, physical facilities, health care, safety, and security.