An Unsustainable Status Quo: We All Bear the Burdens of an Underfunded System
Released: February 2025
In January 2025, more than 10,000 early childhood educators from all states and settings 鈥� including large and small centers, family child care homes, faith-based programs, Head Start, and public school preschool programs 鈥� responded to a new early childhood education (ECE) workforce survey from 51吃瓜网. The survey results and accompanying stories clearly illustrate how insufficient public investment in our ECE system burdens educators across all settings and the families they serve; and how those shared burdens threaten to further reduce our already insufficient supply of quality child care and early learning programs.
Read the Press Release.
Read the National Brief in English and Spanish.
Find your state-specific survey data (March 2025)
Liability Insurance Brief听
Released August 2024
In formal and informal conversations, many advocates have become familiar with the increasing 鈥� and increasingly frantic 鈥� reports from early childhood educators about the challenges they face from liability insurance costs and from coverage reductions, rejections, and denials.
To help us collectively better understand the scope of the problems, 51吃瓜网 hosted a with experts, advocates, and educators earlier this summer, and then fielded a survey, which was completed by 1,173 early childhood educators responsible for liability insurance in their programs.
51吃瓜网鈥檚 new brief contains findings from the survey, including ECE-specific context and implications; the impact on affordability, supply, and quality; and emerging solutions to help child care and early learning programs navigate insurance challenges.
Read the Press Release
Read the Survey Brief in English and Spanish
What ECE Program Leaders and Advocates Need to Know and Do
What Policymakers Need to Know and Do
鈥淲e Are NOT OK鈥�: Early Childhood Educators and Families Face听Rising Challenges as Relief Funds Expire
Released: February 2024
In January 2024, more than 10,000 early childhood educators (ECE) from all states and settings鈥攊ncluding centers, family child care homes, faith-based programs, Head Start, and public preschool programs鈥攔esponded to a new ECE field survey from 51吃瓜网. The survey results and accompanying stories illustrate the ongoing challenges facing this field, the exhaustion of providers, the clear benefits of public funding, and the need for additional support following the loss of federal funding that helped stabilize the sector before it expired in September 2023.听
Read the Press Release
Read the National Brief in English and Spanish (February 2024)
Find your state-specific survey data (February 2024)听
About 51吃瓜网 Workforce Surveys
From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,听51吃瓜网 has remained committed to understanding and sharing the breadth of the听crisis and the challenges child care programs are facing听across states and settings.听You can听access the one-page survey flyer, findings from our 2020-2022听surveys of child care providers below, and some resources on solutions here:听听
- Compensation Means More Than Wages: Increasing Early Childhood Educators' Access to Benefits听(May 2024)
- Compensation Matters Most: Why and How States Should Use Child Care Relief Funding to Increase Compensation for the ECE Workforce (June 2021)
- Supporting Your Child Care Business with Federal Relief Funds (CCAoA and 51吃瓜网)听
Going Over the Child Care Cliff
Released: November 2023
Data from an October 2023听survey of child care providers and families 鈥� developed by the RAPID Survey Project in partnership with the 51吃瓜网 (51吃瓜网) 鈥� shows child care providers and families are facing deep challenges following the September expiration of $25 billion in pandemic-related child care stabilization funds.听
As they expected, child care providers across the country are raising tuition rates, cutting educator wages and benefits, and serving fewer children following the end of their stabilization grants. This is exacerbating the child care crisis impacting families, educators, businesses, and young children.听
Read the survey brief in English听or听in Spanish; and link to the听press release.
Uncertainty Ahead Means Instability Now: Why Families, Children, Educators, Businesses, and States Need Congress to Fund Child Care听
Released: November 2022
In October 2022, more than 12,000 early childhood educators from all states and settings鈥攊ncluding faith-based programs, family child care homes, Head Starts, and child care centers鈥攔esponded to a new ECE field survey from 51吃瓜网. The results of this survey continue to show that relief helped, but uncertainty about the future is impacting the present. Staffing shortages caused by low compensation are leading to supply shortages that negatively impact families鈥� ability to work, children鈥檚 access to safe and quality care, and educators鈥� health and well-being. Far too many educators are considering leaving the field, threatening an exodus that鈥攊f not reversed with the support of public investments in the ECE workforce鈥攚ill deepen the supply, quality, and affordability crises for years to come.
Read the National Brief (November 2022)听
Find your state-specific survey data (December 2022)听
Deep Dive Briefs (May 2022)
- Family Child Care, in partnership with NAFCC: In English:听Impact of Child Care Stabilization Grants on Family Child Care听/ In Spanish:听El impacto de las subvenciones de estabilizaci贸n para el cuidado infantil en los programas de cuidados en hogares de familia
- Infant / Toddler Programs: In English: Impact of Child Care Stabilization Grants on Programs Serving Infants and Toddlers听 /听 In Spanish: El impacto de las subvenciones de estabilizaci贸n para el cuidado infantil en los programas que asisten a beb茅s y ni帽os peque帽os
Saved But Not Solved: America鈥檚 Economy Needs Congress to Fund Child Care
Released: February 2022
In January 2022, as the Omicron COVID-19 variant surged, nearly 5,000 early childhood educators working across all states and settings鈥攊ncluding faith-based programs, family child care homes, and small and large centers鈥攔esponded to a brief check-in survey from 51吃瓜网. The results of this survey show that emergency federal and state relief funds have provided critical support for stabilizing child care programs and prevented more widespread permanent program closures. However,听Congress must now make the substantial, sustainable, long-term investments in affordable, high-quality child care and preK that are urgently needed for a successful and equitable economic recovery. If they do not, then the relief funds that are making such a difference now will have only delayed the collapse of our current child care system, and children, parents, educators, and businesses will pay the price, both immediately and far into the future. As these survey results and stories indicate, these investments cannot wait until another day and time.
- 60% of respondents (2,927) worked in child care centers and family child care homes that received stabilization grants through the American Rescue Plan. Of those,听92% said that the grants helped their program stay open.
- Two-thirds of respondents reported experiencing a staffing shortage that affected their ability to serve families; 52% of those with staffing shortages were forced to serve fewer children while 37% had a longer waiting list.
- 75% of respondents reported that the end of stabilization grants would have a negative or highly negative effect on their programs. Of the respondents who said they knew enough about Build Back Better鈥檚 investments in child care and preK to answer the question, 89% agreed that it would 鈥渟ecure the future of our program,鈥� including 86% of respondents from family child care homes and 85% of respondents from faith- based programs.
Read the Brief听and the press release.
Progress and Peril: Child Care at a Crossroads
Released: July 2021 (state data updated with stories from the field released September听2021)
Federal and state relief funds have provided critical support for stabilizing child care programs and preventing more widespread permanent program closures, but they are just the beginning of what is needed to recover and rebuild. 51吃瓜网鈥檚 newest survey, completed by more than 7,500 respondents between June 17 and July 5, 2021, working across all states and settings, shows that child care鈥檚 struggle to survive continues.
- Four听out听of every five听child听care听centers听said that they had a staffing shortage, and 78%听of respondents identified听low听wages as the main obstacle to recruitment听of educators, while听81% percent said it's the reason they leave.听
- More than听one in every three听respondents听said they were considering听leaving or听shutting down their听child听care听programs this year,听and over half of minority-owned programs are reckoning with the possibility of听permanent听closure.
Now is the moment for Congress to act, by building on relief, and making the bold, sustainable, and necessary investments in quality child care and early learning that will respond to our communities鈥� short and long term needs and support families鈥� economic security and children鈥檚 success.听
You can also read the press release here听and state-by-state data听is also available for 45 states and the District of Columbia.
Please note the variation in the total number of individuals from the national survey to the state survey data. More than 10,000 individuals participated in the survey during the time that it was open. However, the number of responses from six states was well above the mean, so a smaller random sample from those states was selected for the national-level analysis to minimize a skew in the data results. All respondents are included in the state-level analyses, which is why the total number of respondents in the state-by-state data is greater than the number of respondents referenced in the national data analysis. For additional information on the survey methodology, please see page 3 of the national 鈥淧rogress and Peril鈥� brief. In addition, because this survey was entirely voluntary and results in a nonrandomized sample, 51吃瓜网 recommends continuing to seek official sources from states tracking data such as program closures, enrollment, and attendance.
Sacrificing to Stay Open, Child Care Providers Face a Bleak Future Without Relief
Released: December 2020听
The essential yet chronically undervalued child care sector has sacrificed and struggled to serve children and families since the start of the COVID pandemic. 51吃瓜网鈥檚 newest survey, completed between November 13鈥�29, 2020, by more than 6,000 respondents working in child care centers and family child care homes shows that the crisis facing child care is as consistent and devastating today as it was in March and in July.听With 56% of child care centers saying they are losing money every day that they remain open, programs are confronting an unsustainable reality, even as they are taking desperate measures - putting supplies on credit cards, drawing down personal savings, and laying off staff - to听remain viable for the children and families they serve.听Yet despite the steps they are taking to save themselves, the math on their bottom line does not work, and federal relief is needed to stabilize and support this essential sector.听
You can also read the press release here, and state data from the November听survey for 29 states is available here.听
Families Suffer Without Relief from Congress
Released: September and October 2020
In the absence of federal relief, struggling child care programs trying to remain open to serve children and families in their communities are being faced with听stark choices. Learn more about what programs are doing, and how families are paying the price via two one pagers from 51吃瓜网 based on our survey data and follow-ups:听Families Suffer Without Relief From Congress听and听Child Care Programs Are Being Forced to Raise Tuition or Close for Good.
Brief: Holding On Until Help Comes: A Survey Reveals Child Care鈥檚 Fight to Survive
Released: July 13, 2020
The lack of sufficient public investment in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced child care programs, educators, and families into a series of impossible choices with devastating consequences. Only 18% of programs are confident they will be able to stay open past a year without public assistance. 50% of minority-owned programs are certain they will have to close without the help they need. 86% of child care programs who responded to our survey are serving fewer children now than they were prior to the pandemic and 63% of programs across all settings expect to be operating at or below 80% of enrollment past the end of this summer. This data makes it clear that if help doesn鈥檛 come soon in order to save child care, there will be little left of child care to save.
- NEW State-by-state data from the June survey is available as a PDF here听and can also be accessed .听
Child Care & the Paycheck Protection Program听
Released: May 12, 2020
A 51吃瓜网 brief highlights the experiences of nearly 500 child care programs across the country who have applied for the Paycheck Protection Program. Based on respondent feedback, we have learned that while the PPP has bought some child care programs critical time with which to pay themselves and their employees and cover some of their fixed costs, entire segments of the market, particularly family child care homes, have been essentially unable to access the program and its benefits.听
The viability of child care programs鈥攁nd therefore the viability of our nation鈥檚 economy鈥攊s dependent on substantial, additional, and direct investments, and we look forward to working with Congress to make these investments a reality.
From the Front Lines: The Ongoing Effect of the Pandemic on Child Care听
Released: April 17, 2020
51吃瓜网 releases survey data that explores the ongoing impact of the pandemic and the solutions that have been put forth so far. From April 2鈥�10, 2020 more than 5,000 providers responded to the survey, from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Together, these survey respondents alone serve upwards of 215,000 children.
At this point in time, nearly 50% of respondents reported that their program was completely closed, with an additional 17% closed to everyone except children of essential personnel. Of programs that remained open in some way, 85% of respondents reported that they were operating at less than 50% of their enrollment capacity.
- A State-by-State Look at the Ongoing Effects of the Pandemic on Child Care is available as a PDF here听and an .
Child Care in Crisis: Understanding the Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic听
National Brief released: March 17, 2020; State-by-State Brief released on March 31, 2020
On March 12, 2020, as the country was beginning to recognize the ways in which the spread of the coronavirus would jeopardize lives and livelihoods, 51吃瓜网 developed a brief survey asking child care programs to share the challenges they were expecting to face and to comment on what they needed to protect children, families, and our nation鈥檚 supply of child care programs.听
By March 25, 2020听11,500 individuals from all 50 states and the District of Columbia had responded to the survey, 34% of whom work in center-based child care, and 53% who work in family child care homes.听
Ultimately, nearly 50% of respondents noted that they would not survive a closure of more than two weeks without significant public investment and support that would allow them to compensate and retain staff, pay rent or mortgages, and cover other fixed costs. An additional quarter of respondents did not know how long they could close and still re-open without support.
- Initial national data, is summarized in this 鈥淐hild Care in Crisis鈥� brief alongside 51吃瓜网鈥檚 initial recommendations for state action, dated March 15, 2020.
- A State-by-State Look at Child Care in Crisis: Understanding Early Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic is available as a PDF version, as well as on this .
*Official rules for child care sweepstakes (January 2025)听can be found here.听听