America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2011

Child Care

Many children spend time with a child care provider other than their parents. This indicator presents two aspects of early childhood child care usage: a historical trend of the primary child care provider used by employed mothers for their young children and overall use of different providers regardless of parents' work status.¹⁸

Indicator Fam3.A: Primary child care arrangements for children ages 0–4 with employed mothers, selected years 1985–2010¹⁹

• In 2010, 48 percent of children ages 0–4 with employed mothers were primarily cared for by a relative—their father, grandparent, sibling, other relative, or mother— while she worked. This is not statistically different from the percentages in 2005 and 2002. Twenty-four percent spent the most amount of time in a center-based arrangement (day care, nursery school, preschool, or Head Start). Fourteen percent were primarily cared for by a nonrelative in a home-based environment, such as a family day care provider, nanny, babysitter, or au pair.
• The rate of care by fathers was between 15 and 16 percent in 1985 and 1988, increased to 20 percent in 1991, and settled between 16 and 18 percent from 1993 to 2005. By 2010, the father-care rate was 19 percent.
• Among children in families in poverty, 15 percent were in center-based care as their primary arrangement, while 9 percent were with other relatives (relatives other than the mother, father, or grandparent). By comparison, more children in families at or above the poverty line were in center-based care (26 percent) than were cared for by other relatives (5 percent).

School-age children may spend their weekday, nonschool time in child care arrangements, and also may engage in a variety of enrichment activities such as sports, arts, clubs, academic activities, religious activities, and community service. In addition, some children care for themselves without adult supervision for some time during the week. This measure presents the most recent data available on how grade-school-age children spend their out-of-school time.

Indicator Fam3.C: Child care arrangements for grade school children ages 5–14 with employed mothers, 2010

• In 2007, about 55 percent of children ages 3–6, not yet in kindergarten, were enrolled in center-based care. This percentage was about the same as in 1995. A higher percentage of children ages 3–6, not yet in kindergarten, whose families had incomes at least twice the poverty level (65 percent) were enrolled in centerbased care, compared with children from families with incomes 100–199 percent of the poverty level (45 percent in center-based care) and children from families below 100 percent of the poverty level (41 percent in center-based care).
• The percentages of children ages 3–6, not yet in kindergarten, who were enrolled in center-based care differed by race/ethnicity. A lower percentage of Hispanic children (39 percent) than White non-Hispanic (58 percent), Black non-Hispanic (65 percent), and Asian (64 percent) children were enrolled in center-based care.
• A higher percentage of children whose mothers had a bachelor's degree or higher were enrolled in centerbased arrangements (71 percent), compared with children whose mothers had less than a high school diploma (29 percent), a high school diploma or its equivalent (43 percent), or some college (54 percent).
• In 2010, grade school children ages 5–14 with employed mothers were less likely to be in center-based or other nonrelative care and more likely to be cared for by relatives.
• As children grow and mature, many parents allow them to spend some time in unsupervised situations. In 2010, older children were more likely to care for themselves than their younger counterparts: 2 percent of children ages 5–8, 11 percent of children ages 9–11, and 36 percent of children ages 12–14, were regularly in selfcare situations.

 FAM3.A HTML Table, FAM3.B HTML Table, FAM3.C HTML Table