In March 2020, when public health stay home orders began in order to halt the spread of COVID-19, child care as an industry was drastically and abruptly impacted. This public health emergency highlighted the weaknesses in the child care system in the United States. This study investigated the changes in operations cost, child enrollment and…

Access to early child education services has been proven to be an efficient tool in fighting educational inequalities. However, while wealthier families are likely to use childcare services, disadvantaged children tend to be left out. Research has explained this effect, known as Mathew Effect, and has studied both the constraints in the…

Center-based early care and education (ECE) is important for promoting positive early development and supporting families by providing child care so parents can work. However, the center-based supply varies substantially in terms of funding sources, indicators of quality, and services offered; and many families experience a lack of equitable…

New Hampshire families have not been exempt from the disruptions and challenges associated with an enduring pandemic, including disruptions to their children's care and education arrangements, pressure on household budgets due to rising inflation, and challenges of meeting children's emergent social, emotional, and physical needs amid persistent…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread closures of early care and education (ECE) facilities that negatively impacted children's socioemotional, behavioral, and academic development. Policies permitting child care centers to remain open by obtaining waivers from closure directives involved varying levels of administrative burden. This study…

This paper discusses the qualifications of operators of Malaysian childcare centers, namely TASKA and TADIKA, and the challenges faced by practitioners in the industry of early childhood education (PAKK). This research used both qualitative and quantitative methods involving interviews and a survey. The sample study comprised 727 respondents…

This qualitative research study explored the child care search and selection process from the perspectives of families living in low-income, urban neighbourhoods in the United States. Findings based on interviews with 40 mothers and grandmothers caring for African American preschool-age children showed that child care searches began with referrals…

For New Jersey parents, the high cost of child care, coupled with the lack of available space for babies in licensed facilities, has made a challenging task even more difficult. Findings from a recent study by Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) revealed that there is a severe shortage of infant-toddler child care, especially in low-income…

FNS Research Corner provides a continuing series to summarize recently completed and current research conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in the area of Child Nutrition Programs (CNPs). Summaries of recently completed research projects and in-progress research are provided in this article.

Background & Context: Accurate, reliable, and scalable measurement of classroom quality is critical to ensure that children benefit from early childhood programs. Early childhood classroom quality is most commonly measured using classroom observation tools serving multiple purposes including (1) teacher support (e.g., coaching, professional…

This report provides a summary of the full "First Look" report, which presents data on the early childhood care and education arrangements for children in the United States from birth through the age of 5 who were not yet enrolled in kindergarten by 2019. The report also presents data on selected family activities. These data represent…

This report presents data on the early childhood care and education arrangements for children in the United States from birth through the age of 5 who were not yet enrolled in kindergarten by 2019. The report also presents data on selected family activities. These data represent circumstances before the implementation of coronavirus pandemic…

This report uses data from the 2016 Early Childhood Program Participation Survey (ECPP) of the National Household Educational Surveys Program (NHES). It provides findings about percentages of children who received any nonparental care, the type (relative care, nonrelative care, center-based care, or multiple arrangements), associated costs of…

Early care and education (ECE) programs for children prior to kindergarten in California are provided through a mixed delivery system that includes licensed home- and center-based programs as well as school settings. The requirements, experience, and supports for educators vary widely across settings, depending more on funding sources and…

As California policymakers start to chart a path forward beyond COVID-19, it is important to first understand and reckon with the pandemic's impact on child care programs and individual educators. This research paper presents findings from a survey of 953 California ECE programs and providers in June-July 2020. The results provide an in-depth view…