Child Care Aware of America's latest report shows that child care sector supply increased on the heels of over $50b investment

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May 16, 2023, 10:20 ET

ARLINGTON, Va., May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Child Care Aware^® of America (CCAoA) today released an update to the organization's series, Catalyzing Growth: Using Data to Change Child Care. The release includes new child care supply, quality and affordability data from 2022.

Catalyzing Growth: Using Data to Change Child Care

The Annual Child Care Landscape Analysis 2022 features the latest information gathered from Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies in our annual survey. The report includes an updated interactive map displaying state-level data on the number of child care programs and licensed capacity of programs by type, CCR&R referrals and quality rating and improvement system participation.

The report also includes longitudinal data on the number of child care centers and family child care (FCC) homes open from 2019 to 2022. This data shows evidence of national child care supply recovery when examining the number of center-based programs open between 2019 and 2022, suggesting that the over $50B in child care relief funding may have been impactful – it didn't just keep the sector afloat, but allowed it to recover and grow.

"As providers begin to lose COVID-era relief funds, we must reckon with the fact that this data suggests that investing in child care is good policy that can positively impact states' child care supply, at a time when the number of available spots in child care programs fall short of the need," shared Michelle McCready, CCAoA's interim chief executive officer. "We now have data that reinforces the importance of funding in child care supply growth; it is in our country's best interest that our policymakers act on this knowledge and provide robust, long-term public support for our country's families."

CCAoA's Annual Child Care Landscape Analysis 2022 report found:

The number of licensed child care centers open in 2022 exceeded the number open in 2019.
The number of licensed FCC homes continued to decline in 2022; however, the rate of decline was slower than in prior years.
The rise in child care prices from 2021 to 2022 did not outpace inflation as it did in years past. This is most likely due to the uncharacteristic increases in inflation in 2022.

The full Annual Child Care Landscape Analysis 2022 report and the rest of the Catalyzing Growth series can be found on the CCAoA website at childcareaware.org/catalyzing-growth.

Child Care Aware^® of America is a national membership organization that works with state and local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies and other community partners to ensure that all families have access to quality, affordable child care. CCAoA leads innovative projects that increase the quality and availability of child care, and advance the early childhood education profession. CCAoA also conducts research and advocates for child care policies that foster equity and improve the lives of children and families. To learn more, visit our website. Follow CCAoA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

SOURCE Child Care Aware of America