Introduction
Research Questions
- What is the distribution of children under age 6 by community characteristics? How does that compare to the distribution of different types of CCEE providers by community characteristics?
- What is the distribution of children’s CCEE participation by community characteristics?
Many parents in the U.S. look for high-quality child care and early education (CCEE) to ensure their children’s safety and development and fully participate in the labor market. To meet that demand, there must be an adequate supply of CCEE services within the geographic reach of these families. To assess the alignment between CCEE supply and demand broadly, this chartbook looks at the relative geographic distribution of children and CCEE providers in 2019 and 2012 with data from the nationally representative 2019 NSECE and 2012 NSECE. It also describes the distribution of children’s participation in center-based care and several types of home-based care by urbanicity, poverty density, and other community characteristics. Lastly, it describes how the relative distribution of children in different kinds of CCEE diverged, converged, or stayed the same over time by different types of communities.
Purpose
This chartbook looks at the relative geographic distribution of children and CCEE providers in 2019 and 2012 using data from the nationally representative 2019 NSECE and 2012 NSECE. It also looks at the relative distribution of children in different kinds of CCEE by different types of communities.
Key Findings and Highlights
- As depicted in the figure above, center-based and listed providers were overrepresented in low-poverty areas in 2012 but not in 2019. Relative to the distribution of children, center-based and listed home-based providers were slightly overrepresented in low-poverty areas in 2012. By 2019, their distribution across poverty levels had become more closely aligned with the distribution of children.
- Distributions of children and providers across urbanicity were more similar in 2019 than in 2012.
- Higher proportions of unlisted paid home-based providers were located in communities with a high density of non-Hispanic Black populations.
- Between 2012 and 2019, the prevalence of children in more formal care arrangements declined in communities with low-density of Hispanic populations and grew in communities with moderate-density of Hispanic populations.
- Children in more formal care arrangements were more highly concentrated in low-poverty density areas. Children receiving care from a center-based provider or a paid individual with no prior relationship to the family were more concentrated in low-poverty density communities than children receiving care from paid individuals with a prior relationship or unpaid individuals in both 2012 and 2019.
Methods
This chartbook draws from data collected in the 2012 and 2019 NSECE Household Surveys, Center-based Provider Surveys, and Home-based Provider Surveys. The household survey was administered to a parent or guardian of a child or children under age 13 in households with at least one member child under age 13. This chartbook focuses on children 72 months and younger as of the household interview date. For this chartbook, 2012 tabulations use approximately 9,900 children. 2019 tabulations use data from almost 7,900 children.
Respondents to the Center-based Provider Surveys delivered child care and early education (CCEE) services to children age five and under, not yet in kindergarten, at a single location. Center-based providers were identified using a national provider sampling frame built from state or national administrative lists such as state licensing lists, Head Start program records, or lists of public pre-K programs obtained from each state. These providers included regulated, licensed, and other private providers. Respondents to these nationally representative surveys were directors or other instructional leaders of center-based CCEE providers to children age five and under, not yet in kindergarten. For this chartbook, 2012 data are from approximately 8,300 centers. Tabulations of the 2019 data are from approximately 6,900 centers.
Home-based Provider Surveys were conducted with individuals who regularly provided care in a home-based setting for children under age 13 who were not their own. The 2012 and 2019 Home-based Provider Surveys included listed and unlisted providers. Listed home-based providers were sampled from state or national administrative lists of early care and education services. Unlisted home-based providers were drawn from an address-based sample of housing units screened for the presence of an adult in the household who cared for children, not his or her own, at least five hours per week in a home-based setting. For this chartbook, 2012 tabulations use approximately 2,100 unlisted home-based providers and more than 3,900 listed providers. 2019 tabulations use data from almost 1,700 unlisted home-based providers and more than 4,200 listed providers. This chartbook reports analyses of data that were collected in 2019 and therefore before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. These data cannot describe any changes for families and providers since the start of the pandemic.
Citation
J Borton, A R Datta, L Fiorio (2023) Geographic Distribution of Children and Child Care and Early Education Providers in 2012 and 2019. OPRE Report No. 2023-127, Washington DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Glossary
- Community Hispanic density:
- Proportion of the population in a cluster of census tracts around the household or provider who are Hispanic: communities with low density of Hispanic populations are those where less than 5% of their population reported being Hispanic; moderate-density indicates between 5% and 21% of the population being Hispanic; and communities with more than 21% of their population being Hispanic are designated as high-density Hispanic. These cut-offs were decided by dividing the weighted household counts from 2012 into three evenly sized groups. The same cut-offs were used in the 2012 and 2019 data.
- Community Non-Hispanic Black density:
- Proportion of the population in a cluster of census tracts around the household or provider who are non-Hispanic Black: communities with low density of non-Hispanic Black populations are those where less than 2% of the resident population reported being non-Hispanic Black; moderate density indicates that between 2% and 12% of the population in the cluster is non-Hispanic Black; and communities where more than 12% of their population is non-Hispanic Black are designated as communities with high-density of non-Hispanic Black populations. A community is a cluster of neighboring census tracts. These cut-offs were decided by dividing the weighted household counts from 2012 into three evenly-sized groups. In other words, in 2012 roughly one-third (33%) of communities were in the low category, one-third (33%) were in the moderate-density category, and one-third (33%) were in the high-density category. The same cut-offs were used in the 2012 and 2019 data for consistency.
- Community poverty density:
- Proportion of the population in a cluster of census tracts around the household or provider with incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level (FPL): low poverty density (< 13.9%); moderate poverty density (13.9 through 20%); high poverty density (>20%). These cut-offs were outlined in the NSECE to represent a range of poverty contexts. The same cut-offs were used in the 2012 and 2019 data.
- Community urbanicity density:
- Urbanicity is defined using a census variable that provides the population count in each census tract that is living in an urban area. If the proportion of the population in a cluster of census tracts around the household or provider is less than 30% urban, we categorize it as rural; moderate-density urban indicates 30% through 85% urban; and high-density urban communities are those for which the population in the surrounding cluster is more than 85% urban. These cut-offs were developed to capture the distinction between places that are almost entirely urban (high urban density), almost entirely non-urban (rural), and places in between (moderate urban density). The same cut-offs were used in the 2012 and 2019 data.
- Children under age 6:
- Number of children under age 72 months at the time of interview and under age 60 months as of the September prior to data collection.
- Center-based providers:
- This provider type corresponds to center-based provider respondents. It includes all Head Starts, public pre-Ks, community-based child care, or any other child care in a non-residential setting that is not only drop-in, single activity, or wrap-around care.
- Listed home-based providers:
- This provider type corresponds to home-based provider respondents. It includes providers who appear on state or federal lists of CCEE providers and who operate out of their homes.
- Unlisted paid home-based providers:
- This provider type corresponds to home-based provider respondents. It includes providers who do not appear on state or federal lists of CCEE providers and are paid. These providers were identified using the NSECE household sample.
- Unlisted unpaid home-based providers:
- This provider type corresponds to home-based provider respondents. It includes providers who do not appear on state or federal lists of CCEE providers and are unpaid. These providers were identified using the NSECE household sample.