Hailey Gibbs, Center for American Progress, senior policy analyst for Early Childhood Policy | Center for American Progress website
The Center for American Progress (CAP) has launched its "Data Dashboard: An Overview of Child Care and Early Learning in the United States." This interactive tool is designed to aid policymakers and advocates in addressing what CAP identifies as a crisis impacting children and families.
According to a CAP press release, the dashboard provides state and national data trends on various topics. These include demographics by race and ethnicity, childhood poverty, the childcare workforce, childcare businesses, Head Start programs, affordable care access, exclusionary discipline policies, among others. It also offers narratives for context.
The press release from CAP highlights some significant findings from the national-level data. One of these is an increase in early childhood poverty under the supplemental poverty measure, which rose from 5.3% in 2021 to 12.9% in 2022. The press release also emphasizes that over 14.4 million children, representing 67.8%, have both parents working. Another crucial statistic revealed is that only 14.5% of children under age six who meet federal child care subsidy eligibility requirements actually receive them.
The dashboard further indicates that the childcare sector has not fully recovered from the impact of COVID-19, according to the same CAP press release. The estimated number of workers in this sector is around 38,200 - a figure lower than pre-pandemic levels. "The time is long overdue for large-scale public investments in a child care system that truly meets the needs of all families while also promoting fair compensation for the essential work of early childhood educators," said Schneider, research associate for Early Childhood Policy at CAP and co-author of the report.
"By understanding who is most deeply affected by this crisis, the conditions of the workforce, accessibility and affordability of care, and quality measures, policymakers can be better equipped to craft legislative solutions that best support children, families, providers, and the economy," stated Gibbs, senior policy analyst for Early Childhood Policy at CAP and co-author of the report.
