Quality, Affordable Child Care
Families use child care services for many reasons. Parents choose child care programs that will provide their children with enriching experiences, but primarily they depend on child care when adults are at work and unavailable to provide that care themselves. Increasing numbers of infants and preschool age children are spending time in formal and informal child care settings. Families need child care services that are high quality, accessible and affordable, and convenient to their work and family schedules.
• In 2007, 54% of children ages 5 and under were in child care on a regularly scheduled basis, 48% of these for at least 25 hours a week. (figure 1) Children in Seattle were more likely to be in regularly scheduled care than those in North or South Regions (data not shown).
• 20% of school-age children (6-14) were in regularly scheduled child care; 19% in the North Region, 26% in Seattle, 14% in the East Region, and 20% in the South Region. Of these, 23% were in care for at least 25 hours a week (data not shown).
• Younger children (62%) were most often cared for in a formal setting and 34% used two or more types of care.
• Most school-aged children (69%) were cared for in a formal care setting and 37% were in two or more types of care.
• Quality, trust, convenience in location and hours of operation, and affordability were the main characteristics of child care services that parents considered in choosing a source of care.
• 15% of parents of 0-5 year olds and 14% of parents of 6-14 year olds said that they had to compromise in their choice of care. The main reasons were cost, scheduling difficulties, and lack of other choices. (figure 2)
• 16% of parents of 0-5 year olds and 6% of parents of 6-14 year olds were dissatisfied with at least one aspect of their child care. Quality, location, schedules and cost were the things they would most like to change.
• Child care is a large portion of many household budgets. Infant care can consume up to 23% of median income (2007) in King County. The 2008 average monthly cost for full-time infant care ranges from $1,291 in East Region centers to $1,034 in South Region centers. Licensed family child care (FCC) for infants costs approximately $300 less per month.
• Preschool center care can consume up to 16% of 2007 median income and ranges from $916 per month in the East region to $746 in the South Region. FCC care costs about $80 per month less.
• In 2004, the latest year data are available, approximately one in five children in child care in King County was subsidized by DSHS. King County has a higher than average percentage of providers that either refuse to accept or limit enrollment of subsidized children. The maximum subsidized rate for preschool care in King County in 2006 was $621 per month.
• Child care continues to cost more than many families can afford, but not enough to pay salaries that lead to high quality care. In 2006, on average, a kindergarten teacher earned 73% more than an early childhood teacher in King County.
• Between 2001 and 2006, King County lost 13% of its FCC slots and an additional 1% in center care openings. This makes care increasingly hard to find, especially lower-cost options.
• The quality and cost of child care can vary widely in a community. Often, the burden of poor quality and limited choice falls on poor families. Public funding of early childhood education addresses some of these gaps, but falls short of serving all eligible children. In King County, an estimated 27% of eligible children will be served by Head Start and ECEAP in 2007.(figure 3) The number left unserved is projected to be over 9,100.
Data Source, Definitions, and Limitations
Local data on families’ use of child care services are from the King County Community Health Survey, 2001, 2004, and 2007, a random digit dial telephone survey. Respondents came from both a random sample of all households, and a random sample of households with children aged birth to five. In each case, the respondent was the person who knew most about the child’s care. The limitations of an English-and-Spanishonly telephone survey include the following: a) people who do not have a land line telephone or who do not speak English or Spanish are excluded, and b) people who have less education and lower incomes are underrepresented.
Information on child care costs, provider compensation, and capacity are from “Licensed Child Care in Washington State: 2006”, Washington State Department of Early Learning and from Child Care Resources and Referral Network, September 2007 report on licensed child care in King County.
