Millions of infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers lack access to affordable, high-quality early care and education opportunities.
- Each week, nearly 11 million children under age 5 are in some type of child care setting for an average of 35 hours.
- 4.2 million school-age children between ages 5 to 14 are home alone between the time schools let out and the time their parents come home from work.
- Full time child care workers make around $10.25 per hour ($21,310 annually), $24,480 less than the average annual wage 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 $3,900 in Mississippi to more than $15,450 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 10% of America’s child care centers are accredited.
- From 2008 to 2012, mandatory federal funding for the Child Care Development Block Grant was cut by 7.8%.
