Millions of infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers lack access to affordable, high-quality early care and education opportunities.
- 37% (9.6 million) school-age children between ages 5 to 14 have working mothers who have no regular child care arrangement every week, and 11.3 million children under age 5 need care while their mothers are at work
- Full time child care workers make around $9.70 per hour ($20,350 annually), $16,000 less than the average salary in the U.S.
- The average cost that parents paid for full-time care for a 4-year-old child in a center ranged from more than $4,050 in Mississippi to more than $13,150 a year in Massachusetts. The average center-based child care fees for an infant exceeded the average annual amount that families spent on food in every region of the United States.
- Toddlers who receive quality care have fewer behavior problems and score higher on math and reading tests than children who attended low quality care.
- Just 9.6% of America’s child care centers are accredited.
- From 2005 to 2009, federal funding for the Child Care Development Block Grant was cut by 7.4%; the child care entitlement to states was cut by 5% .
- The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $2 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which is allocated to states based on a formula. This funding will run out at the end of 2010.
