CCAoA’s Research Methodology
Data Collection
The information found in the child care landscape and affordability analyses comes from a variety of sources. In January 2024, 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 2023. However, some states were only able to pull point-in-time data from early 2024. Therefore, all data included in these analyses represent a time point between December 2023 and March 2024. For ease of description, we refer to data as 2023 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, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming. It was not possible to efficiently pull public child care supply data from the state of Louisiana, but price data was available through the state’s most recent Market Rate Survey.
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.
AFFORDABILITY ANALYSES
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 January 2024. This survey contained a series of questions asking agencies to report the annual price of child care in 2023 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 2023 inflation. For state-by-state affordability tables, please see the Child Care Affordability Analysis.
How CCAoA Calculates Affordability
To estimate how much families spend on child care, CCAoA calculates affordability percentages using median family income in each state. This information is found in Table B19126 of the most recent American Community Survey five-year estimates, which is a product of the U.S. Census Bureau. Here is a summary of how CCAoA calculates child care affordability.
*Based on U.S. Census Bureau definition of married-couple families and single parent households. The American Community Survey does not have income data on two-parent, non-married couple 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.
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 $11,400 to $11,800. 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 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 32% of the median household income for single-parent families.
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
