The Economic Role of Paid Child Care in the U.S. Report Series examines the use of paid child care and labor force participation of mothers through a four-part series.

  • Part 1 – Paid Child Care Usage in the U.S. and Across States: details who uses paid child care, what percent of household income is spent on child care for those families who pay for it, and what characteristics are associated with families who pay for child care (e.g., maternal labor force participation, reported expenditures for child care, household income, level of education, and age of children in paid care) across states.
  • Part 2 – Labor Force Participation: reviews the labor force participation of mothers in greater detail (across income, race, and major occupations).
  • Part 3 – Economic Growth Modeling: explores economic growth associated with increasing levels of maternal labor force participation and access to paid child care.
  • Part 4 – Child Care Data in the Current Population Survey, A Primer: provides a data primer for those interested in learning more about Current Population Survey data utilization.

This report series was commissioned by the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board and produced by RegionTrack, Inc., an economic research firm, with generous support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

State Fact Sheets

Click on any state from the map or drop down list below to learn more about paid child care usage in each state.