Access to Child Care: Does it Vary by Neighborhood Type?
Brief
Evelyn Blumenberg | Zhiyuan Yao | Madeline Wander
October 2023
Finding safe and high-quality child care is critical for working parents, especially single mothers and low-wage workers of color. Despite rising demand for such care, research suggests that formal child care in the United States is in dangerously short supply — a situation that worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. While past studies have shown that the supply of formal care across neighborhoods varies by race/ethnicity and income, they often overlook the importance of geography and neighborhood type.
