CCAoA’s Research Methodology
Data Collection
The information found in the child care landscape and affordability analyses comes from a variety of sources. In February 2023, CCAoA surveyed state Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies and state agencies responsible for administering the federally-funded Child Care and Development Block Grant. The survey covered the following topics: child care supply and capacity, quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS), CCR&R services and annual child care prices.
Respondents were asked to complete the survey based on data as of December 2022. However, some states were only able to pull point-in-time data from early 2023. Therefore, all data included in these analyses represent a time point between December 2022 and March 2023. For ease of description, we refer to data as 2022 data throughout the report.
Landscape Analysis
Some states have more data points present in their Child Care Landscape Analysis than others. Some states do not collect certain data points the way CCAoA asks them on the survey. Child care supply, QRIS and price data were gathered from public databases from the following states: Alabama, Arizona, District of Columbia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.
Affordability Analysis
The Child Care Affordability Analysis contains the annual price of child care in centers and family child care settings for infants, toddlers and 4-year-olds. There were also questions about the price of care for school-age children before and after school and during the summer in regulated, private centers and family child care homes.
Calculating National Prices
Each year, CCAoA generates state-based rankings by affordability – the percent of median household income needed to cover the average price of child care. CCAoA began estimating a national child care price in 2018. To increase accuracy, CCAoA conducts and reports three approaches for calculating the average child care prices for infants and 4-year-olds in center-based programs and FCC homes. School-age prices were not included because of the variability in these prices across the country.
It is important to understand the following considerations when interpreting a national average price for child care. Each year, extraordinary efforts are involved to make sure that each state is represented accurately. CCAoA’s research team works very closely with CCR&R staff to ensure that data are collected as uniformly as possible. However, each state’s child care landscape is nuanced and unique, and differences may be hidden when attempting to calculate a national average. CCAoA generally does not recommend using a national average of child care prices, and particularly not as a standard of comparison with any individual state’s prices.
Within this context, CCAoA is reporting national average price estimates. CCAoA developed three methodologies that account for such factors as number of slots by age group and number of programs, which could affect the price of child care in states. None of these methods is ideal for determining one number that accurately describes child care affordability across the country. Though these three methods produce similar numbers, none of them fully unpack the complexities of child care affordability. Prices of a service like child care are better understood in the context of household income, by state and by regions within a state.
If you would like more information about the methodologies used in the Child Care Landscape or Affordability Analyses, please contact us at research@usa.childcareaware.org.
Tracking the Annual Price of Care
CCAoA updates estimates of the price of child care for different child age groups and provider types annually. Data in this analysis comes from a survey of Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that CCAoA sent out in February 2022. This survey contained a series of questions asking agencies to report the annual price of child care in 2021 for infants, toddlers and 4-year-olds in regulated center-based and family child care homes. There were also questions about the price of care for school-age children before and after school and during the summer for regulated, private centers and family child care homes. For states that did not respond to the survey, CCAoA used data from the state’s most recent market rate survey, adjusted for 2021 inflation. For state-by-state affordability tables, please see the Child Care Affordability Analysis.
Child Care Prices Continue to Outpace Inflation
CCAoA’s analysis found that increases in the price of child care have exceeded the average annual rate of inflation for the past three years. The table below shows that in 2019 and 2020, child care prices exceeded the inflation rate by less than 1 percentage point and nearly 4 percentage points, respectively. In 2021, the average annual inflation rate was higher than usual at 4.7%. Child care prices rose by an average of 5% when compared to 2020 prices. This means that child care prices exceeded historically high inflation by 0.3 percentage points and, thus, families with children are more likely to struggle to afford child care on top of essentials such as food, housing and transportation.
Child Care Continues to Top the Charts of Common Household Expenses
As part of this analysis, CCAoA compared the annual price of child care to average housing payments. In all states plus the District of Columbia, child care prices for two children exceeded annual rental payments by 28% to over 100%. Meanwhile, the price of child care for two children in a center exceeded annual mortgage payments in 44 states plus the District of Columbia.
In 34 states plus the District of Columbia, the annual price of child care for an infant in a center exceeded annual in-state tuition at a public university.
Child care is particularly unaffordable for those in the child care workforce. As in prior years, CCAoA found that child care for two children in a center exceeds the average annual income for child care professionals. The price of care for two children in a center exceeded annual income for this sector of the workforce from 56% to over 100%.
Figure 1 provides a comparison of child care prices to other common household expenses by region. In three out of four regions, the annual price of center-based child care for an infant exceeds the cost of housing. In all four regions, the annual price of child care exceeds the annual cost of in-state tuition at a public four-year university.
Figure 1. Average Annual Household Expenses by Region**.
National Child Care Price Estimates are Above the Recommended 7% of Household Income
The average of each methodology described below (both provider types and age groups), produces a national annual average price of child care of approximately $10,400 to $10,800. While readers should take caution when interpreting these numbers because the nation’s child care landscape varies dramatically from state to state, comparing these figures to the national median income for married couples with children under 18 highlights that it would take more than 10% of household income to cover the child care prices for one child. This is more than the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommendation that child care should cost no more than 7% of a household’s income. The situation is more dire for single parents, as the average national price of child care comprises 35% of the median household income for single-parent families.
About the National Price Estimates
Each year, CCAoA generates state-based rankings by affordability — the percent of median household income needed to cover the average price of child care in that state – and CCAoA began estimating a national price of child care in 2018. To increase accuracy and interpretation, CCAoA conducts and reports three approaches for calculating the average child care prices for infants and 4-year-olds in center-based care as well as for family child care homes. See each methodology below for more details. School-age prices were not included at this time because of the variability in data on these prices across the country.
It is important to understand the following considerations when interpreting a national average price for child care. Each year, extraordinary efforts are involved in making sure that each state is represented accurately; CCAoA’s research team works very closely with CCR&R staff to ensure that data is collected as uniformly as possible. However, each state’s child care landscape is nuanced and unique, and differences may be hidden when attempting to calculate a national average. CCAoA generally does not recommend using a national average of child care prices, and particularly not as a standard of comparison with any state’s average prices of child care.
Within this context, CCAoA is reporting national average price estimates. CCAoA developed three methodologies that take into account such factors as number of slots by age group and number of programs, which could affect the price of child care in states. Explanations of each methodology, along with calculations, are below. None of these methods is ideal for determining one number that accurately describes child care affordability across the country. Though these three methods produce similar numbers, none of methodologies unpacks the complexities of child care affordability. Prices of a service like child care are better understood in the context of household income, by state and by regions within states. How CCAoA Calculates Affordability
