In 2022, Childstats.gov reported that there were 22.4 million children under the age of six in the United States. These are the kinds of arrangements providing care for these children, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey:
- parental care only (35 percent)
- child care by relative other than parent (21.8 percent)
- day care center (8.4 percent)
- nursery or preschool (5.4 percent)
- before/after school care (5.1 percent)
- family day care (3 percent)
- Head Start program (1 percent)
Although many nonrelatives caring for children had informal, off-the-books arrangements for being paid, an estimated 568,000 formal child-care establishments were operating as of July 2024, according to market research group IBISWorld. Most child-care establishments had no employees and almost all of these are run by a sole proprietor. Revenue across the child day care industry was estimated to be about $61.7 billion in 2023, an increase from approximately $57 billion in 2019.
Occupations in the Industry
Approximately 970,800 people are employed as child-care workers, providing care directly for young people. More than 23 percent of them are self-employed. Workers averaged around $30,368 per year in 2023. Their low pay reflects their low level of education; more than half have only a high school diploma or less education. Some states require that workers at licensed facilities have a high school diploma or some formal training. Some states also require them to undergo criminal background checks and have immunizations. As of 2024, Head Start required that workers be at least enrolled in a degree or certification program. Of course, many work as nannies or in other unlicensed settings that lack any formal entry requirements.
As universal preschool becomes more common, an increasing number of children will be under the supervision of preschool teachers and their assistants. By definition, these workers are engaged in instruction, tutoring, and similar activities rather than in providing other care services such as feeding, but about 300,910 preschool teachers and about 137,670 teacher assistants were employed in the child day-care industry in 2023. This is a better-educated group than the child-care workers because they tend to work in settings with stricter requirements for employment. Also, many of the preschool teachers and even a few of the teacher assistants may hold an associate's or bachelor's degree because they originally intended to teach in kindergarten. The teachers usually need only an associate's degree, and a high school diploma is usually the only requirement for teacher assistants.
Directors of preschools and child-care centers are more likely to fall under state licensing requirements than the workers whom they supervise. They may be required to have an associate's or bachelor's degree, and in some states certification by the Council for Professional Recognition or another professional association may be needed. The knowledge and skills represented by these credentials equip the director to be able to train and supervise teachers and child-care workers, establish policies and programs, adhere to state regulations for the facility, develop budgets, and communicate with parents. About 52,900 education administrators of preschool and child-care centers are employed in this industry, according to the Department of Labor.
Child-care centers also employ receptionists, secretaries, clerks, and other office workers. Some of the larger facilities employ food service workers and bus drivers.
Major Employers
This is a highly fragmented industry. According to a report from Grand View Research, in 2023, the industry's leading companies were focused on growing their market presence through mergers, acquisitions, and collaborations. The giants of this industry include KinderCare Education, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Cadence Education, Goddard Systems, Primrose Schools, and Learning Care Group, Spring Education Group, and Childcare Network. Collectively, they operate hundreds of centers, including both company-owned and franchised locations.
In the 2023 fiscal year, Head Start was funded to serve 778,410 children, pregnant women, and pregnant people in centers, family homes, and family child care homes. Head Start had about 250,000 workers, with about a little less than half of them providing care to children. These workers were aided by more than half a million adult volunteers, of which 400,000 were parents of Head Start children. Of the center-based preschool teachers, 68 percent held a bachelor's degree or higher in early childhood education or a related field, and 93 percent held an associate's or higher in one of these fields.