Childcare and Health in America

Parents value and seek quality childcare but overestimate the care their child receives, at odds with how experts rate childcare in the United States.

The Issue

Early childhood is a critical time for children’s brains and bodies to develop in a healthy way and childcare plays and important role in that. Yet, according to a new poll, parents face challenges in accessing quality, affordable childcare. And, even more troublesome, a gap exists between what parents and experts believe is the quality of childcare provided.

Key Findings

• Quality—Most parents (59%) rate the quality of their child’s care as excellent, even though experts say the majority of childcare in the United States is not high quality, with only 10 percent very high quality.
• Cost and convenience—Cost is a common challenge for parents to find care (27% said it was) and even after they do find it, it is a financial burden for many (31%). Finding backup care for a sick child challenges working parents who report that they miss work (75%), loose pay (12%), or have negative repercussions from their employer (10%).
• Limited options—For many parents, childcare options are limited (67%) but more so for families with not strong finances (79%) than those with strong ones (63%).
• Lasting effects—Most parents feel childcare positively impacts their child’s long-term wellbeing (86%) and job success in later life (52%). Mothers say it has a positive effect on their wellbeing (62%) and their relationship with their child (58%).

Conclusion

National standards for rating childcare could provide better information for parents on the quality of childcare. That, along with more affordable, high-quality childcare options would benefit all U.S. children and their families.

About the Study

The poll was developed by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and NPR. Telephone interviews were conducted in the summer of 2016.

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