A new report from Harvard draws data from families and early educators in its ongoing Early Learning Study of Massachusetts to describe child wellbeing in the pandemic, and to identify the supports that are critical in allowing families to cope. The report acknowledges the significant damage the pandemic has wrought to children’s socio-emotional wellbeing and… Read more »
Category: Childcare
Urban Institute tool for estimating state-level demand for child care outside traditional hours
Posted by Andy Colvin (Staff Admin) & filed under .
Even before the pandemic, parents working nontraditional-hour (NTH) work schedules faced major child care constraints. NTH schedules include working before 7:00 a.m. or after 6:00 p.m. during the week or working anytime on weekends – often outside the schedule that child care centers and providers are open. The Urban Institute has compiled this data at… Read more »
New research highlights the “true cost” of child care
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A new paper from the Center for American Progress updates and extends the Center’s earlier work on the cost of child care. The earlier work, available as an online data tool, allowed viewers to identify components of the high cost of child care; this update includes estimated salaries for providers in family child care homes,… Read more »
Remote work and child care closures hasten need to revamp fragile child care system
Posted by Andy Colvin (Staff Admin) & filed under .
A Bipartisan Policy Center report describes new survey results assessing how parents’ work arrangements are interacting with their child care needs. Results suggest that 81 percent of working parents with children under 5 who have the option to work remote are utilizing that option. Most parents (60 percent) would like to keep this option to… Read more »
Pandemic impacts review finds decline in ECCE program enrollment, setbacks to young child learning and development
Posted by Andy Colvin (Staff Admin) & filed under .
The University of Michigan and the Urban Institute have partnered to synthesize the pandemic’s effects on young children and on the early childhood care and education (ECCE) programs that serve them. Reviewing 63 studies on COVID-19 and early childhood disruptions, the authors find consistent documentation of ECCE enrollment declines, a mix of in-person and remote… Read more »
The number of home-based early care and education providers decreased from 2012 to 2019
Posted by Andy Colvin (Staff Admin) & filed under .
The Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) recently released a chartbook with findings from the 2012 and 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education. These data allow for a nationally representative look at listed, unlisted paid, and unlisted unpaid homebased early care and education providers in the United… Read more »
Making best use of federal child care support means strategic partnerships to build capacity
Posted by Andy Colvin (Staff Admin) & filed under .
A new report from CLASP elucidates the role and extent of different federal relief funding streams that can be used to enhance child care facilities. Some resources are specific to child care (e.g., the Child Care & Development Block Grant) while others, available to states and localities as general small business and capital project funds,… Read more »
Facilitating parental work and school is the key driver of child care searches
Posted by Andy Colvin (Staff Admin) & filed under .
The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) contributes to understanding of child care demand by identifying why parents search for a new child care provider and describing the results of those searches. Using data from the 2012 National Survey of Early Care and Education Household Survey,… Read more »
Lessons learned on credentialing as a tool for professionalizing the ECE workforce
Posted by Andy Colvin (Staff Admin) & filed under .
Since 2019, Louisiana has required lead teachers in public child care centers to obtain an Early Childhood Ancillary Certificate (ECAC) if they do not already have a bachelor’s degree. While these credentialing requirements are intended to help professionalize the ECE workforce, these policies also can create new burdens for already overextended child care workers and… Read more »
Child Care Center Incubator In Maine Adapts And Expands During The Pandemic
Posted by Andy Colvin (Staff Admin) & filed under .
Shortly before the pandemic hit, Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI), a non-profit community development organization in Brunswick, launched the Child Care Business Lab. THe purpose of the program is to boost the local economy by creating jobs for child care workers and helping parents unable to find employment without someone to look after their children. The… Read more »