Introduction
This highlight summarizes various studies that examined child care and early education (CCEE) during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented disruptions to children, families, and CCEE programs. The effects of the pandemic on CCEE programs were profound, and the COVID-19 crisis exacerbated program differences (e.g., source of revenue and availability of supports) by program setting and funding. Many CCEE programs shut down in the early months of the pandemic (i.e., Spring 2020) due to state or local stay-at-home orders in response to the spread of the virus, and reduced enrollment and staffing. Nationally, 63 percent of child care centers and 27 percent of family child care (FCC) homes were closed in Spring 2020. Yet, some programs remained open to care for children.
Among programs that were open, enrollment decreased significantly due to public health measures (e.g., reduced capacity for social distancing) or parents’ concerns about contracting COVID-19 at CCEE programs. Program closures, coupled with drops in enrollment and attendance, made it difficult for CCEE programs to generate enough revenue to cover their operating expenses, and some providers decided to permanently close their programs. Providers who temporarily closed continued facing challenges to re-open. These program closures may have lasting impacts on CCEE systems. For example, families served by programs that closed need to find alternative arrangements for their children. With fewer programs available, it may be harder for families to find CCEE that meets their needs and preferences.
Purpose
The purpose of this research highlight is to summarize research about how the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic affected CCEE program closures (both permanent or temporary) and enrollment, and examine how closures and enrollment during the pandemic differed by program setting, funding, and family characteristics. Understanding how CCEE programs were affected by the pandemic can help guide CCEE leaders in deciding how best to support CCEE programs and address pre-existing inequities that were heightened by the pandemic (e.g., limited access to affordable care for families with low incomes). We also highlight some of the government's relief efforts that supported CCEE programs during the first year of the pandemic.
Key Findings and Highlights
- Child care and early education (CCEE) programs faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including program closures (both temporary and permanent) and decreased enrollment, that made it difficult for programs to continue operation.
- Program closures varied by program settings and funding.
- Program closure rates were higher among centers than family child care (FCC) homes.
- School-based public pre-K and Head Start programs were also more likely to physically close than community-based CCEE programs.
- CCEE programs also saw a decline in enrollment that negatively affected programs’ revenue. Declines in enrollment tended to be larger among:
- Centers, relative to FCCs.
- Preschoolers, relative to infants and toddlers.
- Preschoolers from families living in poverty (i.e., family annual income below $25,000, approximately federal poverty level for a family of four), relative to preschoolers from higher-income families.
- Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) flexibilities provided important support to help CCEE programs continue providing care for children when the pandemic started.
Figure 4. Preschoolers’ participation in center-based CCEE programs by family income before and during the first year of the pandemic
Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic had significant negative impacts on CCEE programs and highlighted pre-existing differences and challenges across various types of CCEE programs. Program closures and decreased enrollment, as well as other public health measures, created significant challenges for CCEE programs that also may have negatively affected the CCEE workforce, children, and families in 2020 when the pandemic started and beyond. Further, these challenges differentially affected programs—program closure rates were higher among centers, school-based public pre-K and Head Start programs. Decreases in enrollment were larger among centers and for preschoolers, especially preschoolers from families with low incomes. Although federal and state relief and stabilization efforts may have provided important supports to CCEE programs facing closures and low enrollment, findings suggest that access to some of these financial resources was uneven across program types. State CCEE leaders may use findings about the early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the CCEE system to document improvements in the supply of CCEE over time and to consider long-term supports that might address some of the effects of the pandemic on various types of providers (e.g., centers vs. FCCs, public school vs. community-based) to ensure equitable access to care for all families. State leaders may also find it useful to gather data about CCEE programs that accessed federal and state funds to understand the extent to which these supports helped stabilize the CCEE system.