Selected findings and policy implications from a statistical study of the amount and type of day care used by a national sample of parents are presented in this paper. For the analysis of hours used, the sample consisted of families (n=2,149) reporting use of at least one hour of care per week for whom complete data sets were available. For analysis of main method chosen, the sample was restricted to families (n=737) with at least one child in the 2 to 6 year age range, whose main method of care was being used at least 10 hours per week. Using multiple regression and discriminant function as the principal statistical methods to examine the relationship between use of day care and family characteristics, the following results were obtained. (1) No relationship was found between the family's annual income and the amount of care used (the family's choice of main method of care was found to be more related to values than to economics). (2) In choosing among types of home care, parents placed more emphasis on who provides the care than on the location of the home care. (3) In terms of the relationship between household structure and use of child care, there was no direct relationship between being married and amount of care used. (4) Age of the family's youngest child was related to hours of care used only when employment status was taken into account. (5) Cost of care was found to be highly related to both amount and type of care chosen. It was concluded that child care is an important service in the supporting of family functioning and that parent decision making on the amount and type of care used is a complex matter, subject to a range of household and individual characteristics. (Author/MP)