Early Education and Child Care

Congressional Briefing

Sandra L. Hofferth

University of Michigan

May 16, 2001

This presentation will focus upon what is known about how families are caring for their children. It begins with a brief discussion of some of the demographic trends that have affected families’ lives and the major policy change, work requirements for public assistance recipients. It will then focus upon the large number of children who are cared for by relatives, sitters, family day care providers, and centers during the day. I focus on type of care and why it matters. I also focus upon differences by child age and differences by parental income and family structure.

Finally, I focus upon how welfare reform has changed the demand. Unfortunately, I have to emphasize that we know almost nothing about the supply of care in the United States since 1990. This is a major problem as the labor force participation of low-income mothers increases. We have not a clue what their access is to care.

I. The Demographic Background

The number of children cared for out of the home in early education and care programs has soared over the past decades. This increase is driven by increases in the number of women in the work force, changes in family structure, and parents’ desire to provide children with educational experiences to prepare them for school.

Maternal Employment Trends

You are familiar with the increased employment of married mothers of young children, particularly in the 1980s (Slide 1). But, you may not be aware of the large increase in the employment of single mothers just in the past 5-6 years. (Slide 2). It is no longer optional for mothers to be employed. The needs of families and careers pull mothers from two parent families into the work force. Work requirements in the public assistance system are pushing low-income mothers into the work force. In the past few years a large group of children of single mothers has entered child care as their mothers have gone to work.

Recent research I have conducted show that parents are clearly primary in the care of their children. Mothers and fathers spend 32-33 hours per week engaged with or available to children, on average, more time than in the past (1981)—some 6 hours more for mothers and 4 hours more for fathers in 2-parent families. So parents are clearly focusing more attention on their children and families than in the past.

Enrollment in Early Childhood Programs

It is also true that more children today are enrolled in structured programs. In 1995 there were 21 million children below age 6 who had not yet entered school. 60 percent of children—13 million children—participated in a nonparental early education or care program. By 1997, according to recent figures, with 21 million children not yet enrolled in school, that had risen to 69 percent. Child care is no longer experienced by a few children; it is the norm. When children are in child care they spend a significant amount of time; 41 percent of children under age five with an employed mother spend 35 hours or more in care. The decline in children’s free or discretionary time that my research has found is largely because of the increased time spent in such arrangements.

School-age children also participate in after-school programs, though not to the same extent as preschool children. Children who spend time in after-school care in 1997 spent 13-14 hours in the arrangement. As children age they are less likely to be in care and education programs and more likely to be involved in activities such as sports and recreation. They also spend more time by themselves.

II. Types of Early Education and Care

Relative care means care by people such as grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Parent care is just that, care by the mother or father. If the parents hire a nonrelative to care for the child in their own home, this often called a sitter or nanny. A neighbor or friend who cares for one or more children in her own home is referred to as a family day care or family child care provider. Center care refers to care in a nonresidential setting where children are cared for together in a group for all or part of the day.

Does Type make any Difference?

We are learning how important the quality of child care arrangements is. Why should we care about the type of arrangements parents make, by the way? Increased enrollment is partly because of increased employment, but it is also due to increased interest in the advantage of early education programs for preschool children. Early education and care arrangements of all children today differ little from those of children of employed mothers. Parents recognize the value of group programs for older children, as shown in the choices they make by age. A large number of studies have found that (high quality) center care in the preschool years is associated with higher scores on achievement tests and more center care in the toddler and preschool years is associated with improved language development. Center caregiver may be providing more verbal stimulation and responding to early language efforts, thus promoting language development. The more frequent structured and teacher-led activities may factor in the contribution of centers to performance on cognitive tasks. The cognitive head start that centers provide disadvantaged children has been demonstrated by a variety of studies, including the experimentally-designed Perry Preschool study and the Abecedarian project.

Trends in Enrollments in Early Education and Care arrangements over Time

The next slide (Slide 3) shows the trends in the use of different forms of care over time, from 1965 to 1997. The trend is clearly away from relative care and even family day care and toward center-based care. In 1997, 32 percent of youngest preschool children of employed mothers were in center care and 16 percent were in family day care. 6 percent were cared for by a sitter and 47 percent by a parent or relative.

Education and Care vary by Child Age

Parental choices for early education and care for their children change dramatically as children grow. In 1997, 28 percent of children under age 1 were in center or family day care and 60 percent of children age 3-4 were so enrolled. (Table 1) Thus we mean different types of programs at different ages. The mix of types of care over the first years of life may make a difference. Parents clearly want more family-like and informal care in the early years, and center care later on. But, much has changed over time, with many more of the younger children in group programs than in the past. In 1982, only 6 percent of infants were in center care, compared with 15 percent today (Table 1).

Education and Care vary by Parental Income

Infants and toddlers or employed mothers living in families with incomes below 100 percent of the poverty level are slightly more likely to be in group are, either center based or family day care, than children in families between 100 and 200 percent of poverty. However, both groups are less likely to be in group care than children of families above 200 percent of poverty. Children from low-income families are also more likely to be in parent and relative care.

Education and Care vary by Family Structure

Very recent and preliminary data from 1999 show that there is a difference in child care use by single mothers and married parents. The former have always been more likely to use center-based programs than the later. And they have increased their use of centers over time, relative to married parents

III. Payments

What Parents Pay

In 1997 60 percent of parents of preschoolers and 37 percent of parents of school age children paid for care. Of those who paid, care for all children in families with preschooler averaged $325 month. This amounts to about $76 per week. Care for families with a youngest school-age child averaged $224 per month, or about $41 per week. Surprisingly enough, the price of child care has just kept pace with inflation. In 1990 families with a youngest preschooler paid $77 on average in 1997 prices. Cost of living rose about 23 percent over the period. There has also been little change in the budget-share families pay for care, about 10 percent of their earnings in 1997. This is higher for low-income families, about 16 percent of their earnings, compared with 6 percent for higher income families.

Public Subsidies

In 1990, 37 percent of low-income families reported receiving financial assistance in paying for child care (Slide 4). In 1999 that percentage is going to be even higher, according to new data from the Urban Institute. The one factor to take into account is that middle class families receive subsidies through the income tax system. It is difficult to know whether families who report subsidies are thinking of the tax credit or not. But when you add the tax credit, you see that subsidies are high for all groups. In 1999 they were somewhat lower for the working poor; however, recent financing targets this group, which is likely to have much higher subsidy rate today.

Access

What is most difficult to determine is whether there is “enough” care for children of different ages. The General Accounting Office conducted a study in 1997 around the time of welfare reform to see whether supply would be sufficient. This study in 4 cities and counties across the country found sufficient supply for preschool-age children 3-4; however, the supply of known child care in many of the areas was not sufficient to care for infants or school-age children as welfare reform pushes mothers into the work force. In addition, the supply of evening and weekend hours was not sufficient.

This study was done in 4 areas of the country. We have no national influence on the supply of child care since 1990. Therefore, we know nothing about supply of child care in the United States obtained from providers. We have only information reported by parents, who are not very knowledgeable about some of the characteristics of group programs. It is appalling that we have been unable to obtain the financing to conduct this needed and feasible study. The 1990 study obtained information on child care centers and family day care homes, and a new study should also.

IV. State Regulation of Care

Center care is generally licensed and regulated by state agencies. Family day care homes caring for more than one child may also be licensed or regulated. Licensing covers such things as square footage of space, number of children, number of staff, training requirements, health and safety, and other things which states may regulate. In some states relatives also need approval if they are to be reimbursed for caring for children in their home. So states have control over some of the characteristics that have been found to be associated with quality of child care.

V. Summary and Conclusions

In conclusion, let me say that there are two issues. First, early education and care affects almost all children, beginning at an early age. Second, in spite of all the policy changes that have gone into effect over the past few years, we know very little about the supply of programs in the United States. We know what parents do but not what options are available to them.

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