Child Care Market Rate Survey Series

The National Database of Childcare Prices (NDCP) provides childcare prices at the county level in the United States. The NDCP is a new data source, and the most comprehensive federal source of childcare prices at the county level in the United States. The NDCP was developed to fill a need for local-level childcare price data, standardized across U.S. states. Most existing sources of childcare price data provide prices at the state level, yet parents must choose childcare providers that are in close proximity to their homes or workplaces. Therefore, state averages are unlikely to be good estimates of the prices parents encounter in the market. State average prices do not reflect the substantial variation in prices from one locale to the next within a state and underestimate prices in urban areas.

The NDCP provides data on the price of childcare by children's age groups and care setting (home-based or center-based) at the median and 75th percentile over a 15-year period (2008-2022, inclusive) at the county level. The data were obtained from state Lead Agencies responsible for conducting market rate surveys (MRS) according to Child Care and Development Fund regulations. A MRS is the collection and analysis of prices charged by childcare providers for services in the priced market. All state Lead Agencies must conduct a survey and develop a report on local childcare prices in their state every three years. The Women's Bureau contracted with ICF to obtain reports and data from previously conducted surveys to develop the NDCP. The NDCP standardizes and harmonizes data across years and geographies for about 200 previously conducted MRS. The NDCP also provides county-level demographic and economic data from the American Community Survey.

The accompanying User Guide (National Database of Childcare Prices: Technical Report) provides detailed information about the data sources, data collection strategy, standardization and imputation of the data, and data limitations to inform and assist researchers who may be interested in using the data for future analyses. The following items are provided in the User Guide as appendices.

• Appendix A: Data Collection Protocol and Decisions Made During Data Entry Process, Including State Nuances
• Appendix B: List of Imputations Performed for Each State and Year
• Appendix C: County-Level Data Dictionary
• Appendix D: Methods Used for Specific Demographic Variables - County
• Appendix E: State-Level Data Dictionary
• Appendix F: Methods Used for Specific Demographic Variables - State
• Appendix G: 2008-2018 Imputations for County-Level Childcare Prices from Statewide Data
• Appendix H: Price Quintile Ranges for State-Level Price Database
• Appendix I: Summary of Additional 2008-2018 Data Added as a Result of Additional In-Between Study Imputations

Starting with the Family Support Act of 1988, requirements for federal funding stipulate that child care subsidy rates be informed by market rates. In 1990 the federal government began a major investment in child care with the passage of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. Support of parental choice was a key component of this new block grant program that sent new money to states to support child care. Parental choice and state control of policy remained central when the program was expanded in 1996 as a part of welfare reform legislation. At that time, child care funding became known as the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF).

States are required by the CCDF Final Rule to ensure that families receiving child care assistance have equal access to comparable care purchased by private-paying parents. A market rate survey (MRS) is a tool States use to achieve this program objective. Some States conduct surveys to collect the child care market rate and others use administrative data, such as data collected by child care resource and referral (CCR&R) and State licensing agencies, to analyze the market rate for child care.

This survey was one strategy used to collect child care market price data. Comparing findings garnered from different methods allows one to evaluate whether different data collection methods produce different price findings (convergent validity) and how well these data collection methods represent the child care market (criterion-related validity). These data can also be used to explore several validity issues of concern with market price studies.

The major areas of investigation in this survey include child care prices by type of care, geographic location, and price mode (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly). Other areas of investigation include capacity by age group, additional fees facilities charge, whether they care for subsidized children, and what affects the prices that they charge parents.

Starting with the Family Support Act of 1988, requirements for federal funding stipulate that child care subsidy rates be informed by market rates. In 1990 the federal government began a major investment in child care with the passage of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. Support of parental choice was a key component of this new block grant program that sent new money to states to support child care. Parental choice and state control of policy remained central when the program was expanded in 1996 as a part of welfare reform legislation. At that time, child care funding became known as the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF).

States are required by the CCDF Final Rule to ensure that families receiving child care assistance have equal access to comparable care purchased by private-paying parents. A market rate survey (MRS) is a tool States use to achieve this program objective. Some States conduct surveys to collect the child care market rate and others use administrative data, such as data collected by child care resource and referral (CCR&R) and State licensing agencies, to analyze the market rate for child care.

This survey was one strategy used to collect child care market price data. Comparing findings garnered from different methods allows one to evaluate whether different data collection methods produce different price findings (convergent validity) and how well these data collection methods represent the child care market (criterion-related validity). These data can also be used to explore several validity issues of concern with market price studies.

The major areas of investigation in this survey include child care prices by type of care, geographic location, and price mode (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly). Other areas of investigation include capacity by age group, additional fees facilities charge, whether they care for subsidized children, and what affects the prices that they charge parents.