Early Childhood Program Participation From The National Household Education Surveys Program Of 2012 First Look Nces 2013 029rev

This report presents data on the early care and education arrangements and selected family activities of children in the United States from birth through the age of 5 who were not yet enrolled in kindergarten in the spring of 2012. The report also presents data on parents' satisfaction with various aspects of these care arrangements and on their participation in various learning activities with their children. For each category of information included in the report, the results are broken down by child, parent, and family characteristics. The data in this report are from the 2012 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES:2012) Early Childhood Program Participation (ECPP) Survey. The ECPP survey is used to collect information on children from birth through age 6 who are not yet enrolled in kindergarten. Prior to the 2012 ECPP survey that is the focus of the current report, the survey was last conducted in 2005. The ECPP asks detailed questions about children's participation in relative care, nonrelative care, and center-based care arrangements. It also asks about the main reason for choosing care; what factors were important to parents when choosing a care arrangement; what activities the family does with the child, such as reading, singing, and arts and crafts; and what the child is learning, such as counting, recognizing the letters of the alphabet, and reading. This report (NCES 2013-029.REV) is revised from an earlier version of the report (NCES 2013-029) that was released in August 2013. This updated version is based on estimates that utilize the final NHES:2012 data, for which survey weights have been corrected. Findings include: (1) Approximately 60 percent of children 5 and younger not enrolled in kindergarten were in at least one weekly nonparental care arrangement, as reported by their parents. Among children in a weekly nonparental care arrangement, 56 percent were attending a day care center, preschool, or prekindergarten (center-based care); 42 percent were cared for by a relative (relative care); and 24 percent were cared for in a private home by someone not related to them (nonrelative care) (table 1); (2) Among children with relative care, the primary caregiver for 78 percent of children was a grandparent in the primary relative care arrangement, compared to 11 percent who were cared for by an aunt or uncle and 10 percent whose care was provided by another relative (table 2); (3) Among children who were one to two years old, the mean length of time that they had been in their primary care arrangement was longer for children in their primary relative care arrangement (18 months) compared to their primary nonrelative care (15 months) or center-based care arrangement (13 months) (table 3); (4) Among families with any out-of-pocket costs for care using the primary care arrangement in each category reported, the per child out-of-pocket costs for center-based care were higher for children in families with incomes at or above the poverty threshold ($6.96 per hour) compared to children in families with incomes below the poverty threshold ($3.53 per hour) (table 4); (5) The most common location for children's primary center-based care arrangement, as reported in the survey, was a building of its own (46 percent). Other reported locations were a church, synagogue, or other place of worship (20 percent); a public school (20 percent); and various other types of locations (14 percent) (table 5); (6) Among children in a weekly nonparental care arrangement who had a parent that reported trying to find care, 81 percent of children had parents who reported that the learning activities of the child care arrangement were very important to them when they chose the arrangement where their child spends the most time. This percentage varied by parental education level, as a higher percentage of children whose parents/guardians had less than a high school credential (92 percent) or a high school diploma or equivalent (91 percent) had parents/guardians who reported that the learning activities at the care arrangement were very important in their choice compared to children whose parents/guardians had a vocational/technical degree or some college education (81 percent), children whose parents/guardians had a bachelor's degree (79 percent), and children whose parents/guardians had a graduate or professional degree (71 percent) (table 6); and (7) Approximately 98 percent of children ages three to five who were not yet in kindergarten had parents who taught them letters, words, or numbers in the past week; 95 percent had parents who read to them; 94 percent had parents who sang songs with them; 86 percent had parents who worked on arts and crafts with them; and 83 percent had parents who told them a story (table 7). The following are appended: (1) Technical Notes; (2) Glossary of Terms; and (3) Standard Error Tables.