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 including large and small centers, family child care homes, faith-based programs, Head Start, and public school preschool programs responded to a new early childhood education (ECE) workforce survey from 51勛圖厙. 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泭
Released August 2024
In formal and informal conversations, many advocates have become familiar with the increasing and increasingly frantic 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勛圖厙 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勛圖厙s 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
We Are NOT OK: Early Childhood Educators and Families Face泭Rising Challenges as Relief Funds Expire
Released: February 2024
In January 2024, more than 10,000 early childhood educators (ECE) from all states and settingsincluding centers, family child care homes, faith-based programs, Head Start, and public preschool programsresponded to a new ECE field survey from 51勛圖厙. 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.泭
Read the Press Release
Read the National Brief in English and Spanish (February 2024)
Find your state-specific survey data (February 2024)泭
About 51勛圖厙 Workforce Surveys
From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,泭51勛圖厙 has remained committed to understanding and sharing the breadth of the泭crisis and the challenges child care programs are facing泭across states and settings.泭You can泭access the one-page survey flyer, findings from our 2020-2022泭surveys of child care providers below, and some resources on solutions here:泭泭
- Compensation Means More Than Wages: Increasing Early Childhood Educators' Access to Benefits泭(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勛圖厙)泭
Going Over the Child Care Cliff
Released: November 2023
Data from an October 2023泭survey of child care providers and families developed by the RAPID Survey Project in partnership with the 51勛圖厙 (51勛圖厙) shows child care providers and families are facing deep challenges following the September expiration of $25 billion in pandemic-related child care stabilization funds.泭
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.泭
Read the survey brief in English泭or泭in Spanish; and link to the泭press release.
Uncertainty Ahead Means Instability Now: Why Families, Children, Educators, Businesses, and States Need Congress to Fund Child Care泭
Released: November 2022
In October 2022, more than 12,000 early childhood educators from all states and settingsincluding faith-based programs, family child care homes, Head Starts, and child care centersresponded to a new ECE field survey from 51勛圖厙. 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 ability to work, childrens access to safe and quality care, and educators health and well-being. Far too many educators are considering leaving the field, threatening an exodus thatif not reversed with the support of public investments in the ECE workforcewill deepen the supply, quality, and affordability crises for years to come.
Read the National Brief (November 2022)泭
Find your state-specific survey data (December 2022)泭
Deep Dive Briefs (May 2022)
- Family Child Care, in partnership with NAFCC: In English:泭Impact of Child Care Stabilization Grants on Family Child Care泭/ In Spanish:泭El impacto de las subvenciones de estabilizaci籀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泭 /泭 In Spanish: El impacto de las subvenciones de estabilizaci籀n para el cuidado infantil en los programas que asisten a beb矇s y ni簽os peque簽os
Saved But Not Solved: Americas 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 settingsincluding faith-based programs, family child care homes, and small and large centersresponded to a brief check-in survey from 51勛圖厙. 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,泭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,泭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 Betters investments in child care and preK to answer the question, 89% agreed that it would secure the future of our program, including 86% of respondents from family child care homes and 85% of respondents from faith- based programs.
Read the Brief泭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泭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勛圖厙s 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 cares struggle to survive continues.
- Four泭out泭of every five泭child泭care泭centers泭said that they had a staffing shortage, and 78%泭of respondents identified泭low泭wages as the main obstacle to recruitment泭of educators, while泭81% percent said it's the reason they leave.泭
- More than泭one in every three泭respondents泭said they were considering泭leaving or泭shutting down their泭child泭care泭programs this year,泭and over half of minority-owned programs are reckoning with the possibility of泭permanent泭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 short and long term needs and support families economic security and childrens success.泭
You can also read the press release here泭and state-by-state data泭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 Progress and Peril brief. In addition, because this survey was entirely voluntary and results in a nonrandomized sample, 51勛圖厙 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泭
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勛圖厙s newest survey, completed between November 1329, 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.泭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泭remain viable for the children and families they serve.泭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.泭
You can also read the press release here, and state data from the November泭survey for 29 states is available here.泭
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泭stark choices. Learn more about what programs are doing, and how families are paying the price via two one pagers from 51勛圖厙 based on our survey data and follow-ups:泭Families Suffer Without Relief From Congress泭and泭Child Care Programs Are Being Forced to Raise Tuition or Close for Good.
Brief: Holding On Until Help Comes: A Survey Reveals Child Cares 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 doesnt 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泭and can also be accessed .泭
Child Care & the Paycheck Protection Program泭
Released: May 12, 2020
A 51勛圖厙 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.泭
The viability of child care programsand therefore the viability of our nations economyis 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泭
Released: April 17, 2020
51勛圖厙 releases survey data that explores the ongoing impact of the pandemic and the solutions that have been put forth so far. From April 210, 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泭and an .
Child Care in Crisis: Understanding the Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic泭
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勛圖厙 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 nations supply of child care programs.泭
By March 25, 2020泭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.泭
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 Child Care in Crisis brief alongside 51勛圖厙s 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)泭can be found here.泭泭