New Interactive Resource Reveals Staggering Data on the Child Care Gaps Across the United States

The Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska, in collaboration with Child Care Aware of America and the Bipartisan Policy Center, recently released an interactive map resource that quantifies the child care shortage across the United States. It shows the potential need for child care, the legally operating supply, the gap  between this supply and the potential need for care, and the economic impact of these gaps in each of the 50 states and D.C.. Researchers utilized recent U.S. Census data and worked closely with officials from each state to create the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the nation’s child care supply and subsequent gaps in a way that is accessible and presents data by state, county, and Congressional district. 

First Five Years Fund reported on earlier iterations of this project when the first set of states were covered. Now complete with all 50 states and D.C., this map allows users to examine the child care gap in their state both through the actual number and percentage of children age five and under who potentially need care but whose families cannot reasonably access this care by driving. Additionally, the map shows the supply of legally operated and state-recognized child care providers in each state, the potential need based on the number of young children with both parents in the workforce in each state, as well as the economic impact due to child care gaps on households, businesses, and tax revenues. The map itself is visualized using light to dark colors with the darker shades representing larger child care gaps.

Below the map there are overall summaries and written breakdowns of each category listed (e.g. child care gap, potential need, etc.) for each state as well as for the nation as a whole. 

Some stand out statistics across the 50 states and D.C. are:

• 14,824,878 children nationwide have the potential need for child care.
• There is a supply of 10,833,062 child care slots.
• 4,186,363 children do not have access to child care within a reasonable distance, leading to a 28.2% gap in child care access.
• Rural areas have 1,191,317 children without access to child care (31.5% gap) while Urban areas have 2,995,108 children without access to child care (27.1% gap).
• The long term economic impact is between $216.4B and $329.4B.

FFYF commends the Buffett Early Childhood Institute, Child Care Aware of America, and the Bipartisan Policy Center for this comprehensive and impactful resource and for its insight into the reality of child care across our nation.