Evaluating Institutional Drivers and Mediators of Childcare Satisfaction: Evidence From 60 County‐Level Institutions Under China's High‐Quality Development Agenda

This work dwells upon examining the supply and demand of universal childcare services to infants and toddlers (0–3 years old) at the level of China counties, which coincides with the national policy on high‐quality development. Under the guidance of the stimulus‐organism‐response (SOR) model, the study analyses a complex relationship of institutional antecedents, affordability of childcare (AC), perceived safety standards (PSS), perceived staff qualifications (PSQ) and infrastructure quality (IQ) to parental satisfaction with childcare services (PSCS) through two mediators, localized curriculum availability (LCA) and home–school communication quality (HSCQ). The study employed partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS‐SEM) to analyse survey data collected from 600 parents across 60 childcare institutions in six Chinese provinces. The results have shown that each of the institutional stimuli is significant in affecting the mediators, which in turn affects parental satisfaction. It is important to note that PSQ showed the strongest association. The conclusions have theoretical implications regarding the cognition and emotion‐related factors of the satisfaction and practical implications in the policy design to attract inclusive, affordable and culturally sensitive childcare. The findings suggest that policymakers should prioritize staff training, professional certification, curriculum localization and effective home–school communication to improve the quality and accessibility of universal childcare services.