Child Care in State Economies
Child Care in State Economies examines the child care industry’s effect on parents’ participation in the labor force, and provides extensive details regarding the industry’s state economic impact, including: usage rates, the role of public funding, revenues, and business structure. The report was commissioned by the Committee for Economic Development, produced by the economic firm, Region Track, Inc., and generously supported by the Alliance for Early Success.
State Fact Sheets, Talking Points and Infographics
To learn more about the economic impact of child care in each state and why it should be supported, select a state from the map or drop down list below.
Over the past two decades numerous states have released studies on the economic impact of child care, which you can access here. CED commends the efforts that have been made on this important topic.
Data Notes
Child Care in State Economies uses a consistent data set for all states that reflects the use of paid, or market-based, child care services. The overall size of the paid child care industry (i.e., number of establishments, employment, and revenue) at the national and state levels is determined using U.S. Census Bureau data for 2012.
The definition of child care varies greatly across the states (i.e., licensed care, registered care, listed care, certified care, license-exempt care, etc.). Therefore, industry estimates may vary state by state depending upon the data sources used.
The U.S. Census Bureau data used in this report reflects data sets located here for sole proprietors (businesses that have no paid employees and are subject to federal income tax who report child care income) and here for data related to child care centers (businesses with paid employees in the child care industry sector).
Differing definitions of the child care sector make it difficult to produce an exact number of programs within each state and an exact number of employees working within the paid care industry. We support efforts to create uniform definitions that will help support consistent reporting of data.
