Percentages of Young Children Enrolled in Education

Early childhood education is related to children's long-term educational, health, and economic outcomes.144, 145 Many students have experienced interruptions in school enrollment since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic,146 and children ages 3–5 are no exception.147 The percentages of children enrolled in preschool, kindergarten, and other grades for this age group dropped after the onset of the pandemic. Please note that children living in institutions such as prisons or nursing facilities have been excluded from the data.

Indicator SPECIAL1: Percentage of 3- to 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds enrolled in school, 2010 through 2021
Indicator spec1: Percentage of 3- to 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds enrolled in school, 2010 through 2021

NOTE: Data exclude children living in institutions. A child is considered enrolled if they are currently attending or enrolled in regular school, such as nursery school, kindergarten, or elementary school.

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, School Enrollment Supplement.

  • In 2021, 86% of 5-year-olds were enrolled in school, compared with 50% of 3- to 4-year-olds.
  • For both 3- to 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds, the percentages of children enrolled in 2019 were not measurably different than 2010.
  • From 2019 to 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentage of 5-year-olds enrolled fell 6 percentage points (from 91% to 84%), while the percentage of 3- to 4-year-olds enrolled fell 13 percentage points (from 54% to 40%).
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2021, the percentage of 5-year-olds enrolled was not measurably different, while the percentage of 3- to 4-year-olds enrolled increased by 10 percentage points (from 40% to 50%).
  • Despite the recovery observed in the percentage of 3- to 4-year-olds enrolled between 2020 and 2021, this group's percentage enrollment remained lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic (50% in 2021 vs. 54% in 2019). For 5-year-olds, the percentage of children enrolled was lower in 2021 (86%) compared with both 2019 (91%) and 2010 (92%).

Indicator SPECIAL2: Percentage of 3- to 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds enrolled in school, by race and Hispanic origin, 2021
Indicator SPEC2: Percentage of 3- to 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds enrolled in school, by race and Hispanic origin, 2021

NOTE: Data exclude children living in institutions. A child is considered enrolled if they are currently attending or enrolled in regular school, such as nursery school, kindergarten, or elementary school. Included in the total but not shown separately are the categories American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic and Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic. Children categorized as White, non-Hispanic; Black, non-Hispanic; or Asian, non-Hispanic were of a single race. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, School Enrollment Supplement.

  • In 2021, the percentage of children enrolled was lower for 3- to 4-year-olds who were Hispanic (42%) than for those who were White, non-Hispanic (55%) or Asian, non-Hispanic (59%).148
  • The percentage of children enrolled was lower for 5-year-olds who were Hispanic (82%) than for those who were Black, non-Hispanic (90%), Asian, non-Hispanic (92%), or of Two or more races, non-Hispanic (97%).
  • For 5-year-olds, the percentage enrolled was lower for those who were White, non-Hispanic (86%) than for those who were of Two or more races, non-Hispanic.
  • In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentages of children enrolled in school were not measurably different when compared by race and Hispanic origin, for both 3- to 4-year-olds and for 5-year-olds.149

Indicator SPECIAL3: Percentage of 3- to 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds enrolled in school, by number of parents living with child and parents' employment status, 2021
Indicator SPEC3: Percentage of 3- to 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds enrolled in school, by number of parents living with child and parents' employment status,7 2021

‡ Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.

NOTE: Data exclude children living in institutions. A child is considered enrolled if they are currently attending or enrolled in regular school, such as nursery school, kindergarten, or elementary school.

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, School Enrollment Supplement.

  • In 2021, the percentages of 3- to 4-year-olds enrolled in school differed by parents' employment status. In 2021, the percentage enrolled was 54% for 3- to 4-year-olds who lived with two employed parents, compared with 45% for 3- to 4-year-olds who lived with two parents and one parent was employed.
  • In the same year, the percentage of children enrolled in school was higher for 3- to 4-year-olds who lived with one parent who was employed (56%) than it was for 3- to 4-year-olds who lived with one parent who was not employed (43%). In 2021, the percentage of 5-year-olds enrolled in school did not differ by parents' employment, among those who lived with two parents and among those who lived with one parent.

Indicator SPECIAL4: Percentage of 3- to 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds enrolled in school, by parents' highest level of educational attainment, 2021
Indicator SPEC4: Percentage of 3- to 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds enrolled in school, by parents' highest level of educational attainment, 2021

NOTE: Data exclude children living in institutions. A child is considered enrolled if they are currently attending or enrolled in regular school, such as nursery school, kindergarten, or elementary school. Parents' highest level of educational attainment is the highest education level of any parent residing with the child (including an adoptive or stepparent). High school completion includes parents who completed high school through equivalency programs, such as a GED program.

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, School Enrollment Supplement.

  • In 2021, the percentage of children enrolled in school was higher for 3- to 4-year-olds whose parents had a bachelor's or higher degree (57%) than for those whose parents had less than a high school credential (37%), completed high school (41%),150 or had some college education but did not earn a degree (48%).
  • Although the percentages of children enrolled had been higher for 3- to 4-year-olds whose parents had a bachelor's or higher degree than for those whose parents had an associate's degree in every year from 2010 to 2019, there was no measurable difference between these groups in 2020 or 2021.
  • For 5-year-olds in 2021, the percentage enrolled was higher for those whose parents had a bachelor's or higher degree than for those whose parents had less than a high school credential (90% vs. 77%).

144 McCoy, D. C., Yoshikawa, H., Ziol-Guest, K. M., Duncan, G. J., Schindler, H. S., Magnuson, K., Yang, R., Koepp, A., and Shonkoff, J. P. (2017). Impacts of early childhood education on medium- and long-term educational outcomes. Educational Researcher, 46(8), 474–487. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X17737739

145 Cannon, J. S., Kilburn, M. R., Karoly, L. A., Mattox, T., Muchow, A. N., & Buenaventura, M. (2017). Investing early: Taking stock of outcomes and economic returns from early childhood programs. RAND Corporation. https://doi.org/10.7249/RR1993

146 National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). Public School Enrollment. Condition of Education 2023. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved January 9, 2023, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cga.

147 In 2017, the minimum compulsory age for school attendance ranged between 5 and 7 years of age by state. Please see State Education Practices (SEP) table 1.2 for more information.

148 For both 3- to 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds, the percentages of Pacific Islander and American Indian or Alaska Native children enrolled in school did not meet reporting standards in 2021 and were thus excluded from the analyses.

149 For 3- to 4-year-olds, the percentage of Pacific Islander children enrolled in school did not meet reporting standards in 2019. For 5-year-olds, the percentages of Pacific Islander and American Indian or Alaska Native children enrolled in school did not meet reporting standards in 2019. These percentages were thus excluded from the analyses.

150 Includes parents who completed high school through equivalency programs, such as a GED program.

Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics

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