New America and Care.com Unveil Index Measuring U.S. Child Care by Cost, Quality, and Availability
September 28 2016 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Index Accompanied by New America Care Report,
featuring Independent Analysis and Reporting
Today, public policy institute New America and Care.com (NYSE:
CRCM), the world’s largest online marketplace for finding and
managing care, released the Care Index, which offers a
first-of-its-kind series of insights into the cost, quality, and
availability of child care in each of the 50 states and the
District of Columbia.
Highlights from the Index, which is a data and methodology
collaboration between New America and Care.com are:
- The average cost of full-time care
in child care centers for all children ages 0-4 in the United
States is $9,589 a year, higher than the average cost of
in-state college tuition ($9,410). To cover the cost of full
time in-center care, a family earning at the median household
income level would need to spend one-fifth (18 percent) of its
income. For an individual earning minimum wage, full time in-center
care is even less affordable: Child care costs two-thirds (64
percent) of their earnings.
- Nationally, the cost of full-time
care in child care centers is 85 percent of the monthly U.S.
median cost of rent. In four states—Kentucky, Montana, Oregon,
and Wisconsin—the cost of full-time care is more than the median
rent in the state. In 11 states—Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont,
Washington—and the District of Columbia, full-time care is greater
than 90 percent of the typical cost of rent.
- Infant care in centers is 12
percent higher than for older children, and outstrips the cost of
in-state tuition and fees in 33 states. Full-time infant care
in centers ranges from a low of $6,590 in Arkansas, about 15
percent of median income, to a high of $16,682 in Massachusetts,
where it costs one quarter of the median income.
- The typical cost of full-time care
using an in-home caregiver, or nanny, is $28,353 a year, equal to
53 percent of U.S. median household income, or 188 percent of
income for a minimum wage earner, and three times the average
cost of in-state college tuition. Full-time in-home care costs
range between $25,774 a year in Wisconsin and $33,366 a year in
Washington, D.C.
- Nationally, only 11 percent of child
care establishments are accredited by the National Association
for the Education of the Young Child or the National Association
for Family Child Care. Accredited child care centers and family
homes range from a low of 1 percent in South Dakota to a high of 46
percent in Connecticut. In Washington, D.C., 56 percent of child
care establishments are accredited.
- Care is most available in
Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Rhode Island, and Vermont. Alaska,
Hawaii, Utah, Idaho, and South Dakota
are among the states with the lowest availability of care.
- Care is not always available for
families who need it. South Dakota has the highest share of
families where all parents work (82 percent) yet has among the
lowest availability of care, suggesting families rely primarily on
informal or “gray market” care. Utah has the lowest share of such
working families, but still has a majority (63 percent) of all
parents working.
- No one state does well in all three
categories, and families, care providers, and policymakers in every
state make trade-offs between cost, quality, or
availability.
“Families are united both in their need for child care and in
the challenges they face managing the cost and access to quality
care,” said Sheila Lirio Marcelo, Founder, Chairwoman and
CEO of Care.com. “The Care Index and New America Care Report
represent the first comprehensive data deep-dive into this critical
topic and we believe it will put a spotlight on the challenges we
face as a country and the opportunities we have to do better for
all families.”
The Care Index’s findings are drawn from a variety of sources
including unique, proprietary Care.com data on the cost, quality
and availability of in-home care, and a new Care.com national
survey of more than 15,000 households with children under 18 in
every state, conducted in October 2015, as well as data from the
U.S. Census, and the National Association for the Education of
Young Children, among other sources.
In addition to the data and methodology collaboration of the
Care Index, New America is releasing the New America Care
Report, which includes independent analysis, data
visualizations, policy recommendations, and editorial and video
narratives documenting real-life experiences of parents, child care
providers, advocates, and policymakers in Georgia, Illinois,
Massachusetts, and New Mexico. The Care Report can be found
online.
“This research is especially timely in our current political
climate,” said New America President and CEO Anne-Marie
Slaughter. “For the first time, child care is a major issue in
the national presidential campaign, and both candidates are putting
forward proposals to make child care more affordable for the
families who need it.”
The New America Care Report proposes systemic change to the
early care and learning infrastructure, including additional public
and private investment in early care and learning, better training,
pay and professionalization of the teaching workforce, as well as
policy recommendations to make high quality care more affordable
and accessible to all families, including:
- Universal paid family leave
- Expanding and improving cash assistance
programs
- Implementing high quality universal
Pre-K programs
- Focusing resources on programs aimed at
dual-language learners
Online Resources:
For the state-by-state rankings and select metro-level data,
view the Care Index here or download it
here.
For analysis of the data, in-depth narratives of the child care
experience in four states, video, a complete methodology, and
policy recommendations, view the New America Care Report
here.
About Care.com:
Since launching in 2007, Care.com (NYSE: CRCM) has been
committed to solving the complex care challenges that impact
families, caregivers, employers, and care service companies. Today,
Care.com is the world’s largest online destination for finding and
managing family care, with 11.6 million families and 9.1 million
caregivers* across 18 countries, including the U.S., UK, Canada and
parts of Western Europe, and more than 1 million employees of
corporate clients having access to our services. Spanning child
care to senior care, pet care, housekeeping and more, Care.com
provides a sweeping array of services for families and caregivers
to find, manage and pay for care or find employment. These include:
a comprehensive suite of safety tools and resources members may use
to help make more informed hiring decisions - such as third-party
background check services, monitored messaging, and tips on hiring
best practices; easy ways for caregivers to be paid online or via
mobile app; and Care.com Benefits, including the household payroll
and tax services provided by Care.com HomePay and the Benefit Bucks
program, a peer-to-peer pooled, portable benefits platform funded
by household employer contributions which provides caregivers
access to professional benefits. For enterprise clients, Care.com
builds employers customized benefits packages covering child care,
back up care and senior care consulting services through its
Care@Work business, and serves care businesses with marketing and
recruiting support. To connect families further, Care.com acquired
community platforms Big Tent and Kinsights in 2013 and 2015,
respectively. Headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, Care.com has
offices in Berlin, Austin, New York City and the San Francisco Bay
area. For more information, please visit www.care.com.
*As of July 2016
About New America:
New America is a think tank and civic enterprise committed to
renewing American politics, prosperity, and purpose in the Digital
Age. We generate big ideas, bridge the gap between technology and
policy, and curate broad public conversation. In 2014, New America
launched the Better Life Lab, which aims to create a community
engaged in issues that include work-family balance, improved access
to child care, our changing definition of family, and opportunities
for female leadership. www.newamerica.org
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160928005146/en/
New AmericaMaria Elkin, 202-847-4769Communications
Managerelkin@newamerica.orgorCare.comNancy Bushkin, 781-642-5919VP,
Global Public Relations & Corporate
Communicationsnbushkin@care.com
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