Drawing on data from the 1995 National Household Education Survey, this report examines the characteristics of the care and education children receive on a regular basis before they enter school. The report focuses on various characteristics of child care arrangements categorized into two groups: those that have been associated with children's development and those that stem from parental concerns other than child development, such as family budget or work schedules. Following an introduction detailing data sources and limitations and what characteristics of child and family and of non-parental care are of interest, the report presents factors and findings in the following areas: (1) what were children's experiences in non-parental care in 1995; (2) what factors were associated with the types and characteristics of the child care arrangements that parents chose; (3) what were parents' sources of information and preferences regarding child care arrangements; (4) what were parents' preferences related to the attributes of the child care arrangements they selected; and (5) what were parents' preferences related to the types of arrangements they selected. The final section of the report provides a summary and conclusions. Among the findings highlighted are the following: (1) compared with children who did not have various characteristics associated with school failure, children who had these characteristics spent more time in nonparental care and were more likely to be in multiple care arrangements; (2) parents valued having their children cared for by a trained provider and with a small number of children, cost of child care was almost as important as the number children cared for; (3) a variety of other child care characteristics were related to parents' choices, including distance between home and care, whether sick child care was available, and whether English was spoken most of the time; and (4) inconsistent relationships were found between cost of care and characteristics associated with positive child outcomes. The report's two appendices present supplemental tables of data and technical notes and methodology of the study. (Contains 57 references.) (HTH)