National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) Series

The 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education (2019 NSECE) is a set of four nationally-representative integrated surveys conducted in 2019 of 1) households with children under age 13, 2) home-based early care and education (ECE) providers, 3) center-based ECE providers, and 4) the center-based ECE provider workforce. Together these four surveys characterize the supply of and demand for ECE in the United States and create a better understanding of how well families' needs and preferences coordinate with providers' offerings and constraints. The NSECE surveys make particular effort to measure the experiences of low-income families, as these families are the focus of a significant component of ECE and school-age public policy.

The NSECE was first conducted in 2012. Before that effort, there had been a 20-year long absence of nationally representative data on the use and availability of ECE in the United States. The NSECE was conducted again in 2019 to update the information from 2012 and shed light on how the ECE and school-age care landscape changed from 2012 to 2019. The 2019 NSECE followed a similar design as the 2012 survey, including surveying households with children under age 13, home-based providers, center-based providers, and staff working in center-based classrooms.

The 2019 NSECE was funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The project team was led by NORC at the University of Chicago, with partners Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago and Child Trends, as well as other collaborating individuals and organizations.

Restricted-Use Data Files

The 2019 NSECE quick tabulation and public-use files are currently available via this site. The Level 1 restricted-use files that supplement the public-use data are also available through ICPSR (see National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) Level 1 Restricted-Use Files, [United States], 2019 (ICPSR 38445)).

Level 2 and Level 3 restricted-use files are available via the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). For more information, please see the instructions for NSECE Levels 2/3 Restricted-Use Data.

For additional information about this study, please see:

• NSECE project page on the OPRE website
• NSECE study page on NORC's website
• NSECE Data Users Page

For quick links to the PDF manuals (for the Quick Tabulation Files) and user's guides (for the Public-Use Files), please visit the Data Training Resources from the NSECE page. In addition, users can select "Documentation Only" from the Download tab on this study homepage to download all NSECE documentation in one zip file. Researchers interested in applying for the Restricted-Use Data Files are encouraged to read the user's guides before completing their application.

The 2024 National Survey of Early Care and Education (2024 NSECE) is a set of four integrated surveys which include 1) households with children under age 13, 2) home-based early care and education (ECE) providers serving children under age 13, 3) center-based ECE providers serving children age 5 years and under (not yet in kindergarten), and 4) the center-based ECE workforce. Together, these surveys characterize the supply of and demand for ECE in the United States and permit a clearer understanding of how well families' needs and preferences coordinate with providers' offerings and constraints and the local ECE workforce. The NSECE surveys make particular effort to measure the experiences of low-income families, as these families are the focus of a significant component of ECE and school-age public policy.

The NSECE was first conducted in 2012. Before that effort, there had been a 20-year long absence of nationally representative data on the use and availability of ECE in the United States. The NSECE was conducted again in 2019 to update the information from 2012 and shed light on how the ECE and school-age care landscape changed from 2012 to 2019. To facilitate over-time comparisons, the 2024 NSECE largely replicates the design of the 2019 and 2012 NSECE, although all are cross-sectional surveys with no intentional overlap in sampled households, providers, or workers.

The 2024 NSECE was funded by the the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The project team was led by NORC at the University of Chicago, with partners including Child Trends and a Content Advisory Team of collaborating experts. Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago worked closely with NORC on the building of the provider sampling frame in 2023.

Level 2 restricted-use files are available via NORC. For more information, please see the instructions for NSECE Levels 2 Restricted-Use Data.

For additional information about this study, please see:

• NSECE project page on the OPRE website
• NSECE study page on NORC's website
• NSECE Data Users Page on NORC's website

For quick links to the User's Guides, please visit CFData's Data Training Resources from the NSECE page. In addition, users can select "Documentation Only" from the Download tab on this study homepage to download all NSECE documentation in one zip file. Researchers interested in applying for the Restricted-Use Data Files are encouraged to read the User's Guides before completing their application.

In 2019, the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) team conducted a set of four integrated surveys of 1) households with children under age 13, 2) home-based providers, 3) center-based providers, and 4) the center-based workforce as a cross-sectional follow-up to the original 2012 NSECE. Together they characterize the supply of and demand for early care and education (ECE) in the U.S. and permit better understanding of how well families' needs and preferences mirror providers' offerings and constraints. The NSECE surveys make particular effort to measure the experiences of low-income families, as these families are the focus of a significant component of ECE and school-age public policy.

In light of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) funded a new data collection effort beginning in 2020 to learn how the pandemic was affecting ECE providers and the individuals who work directly with children in ECE settings. The NSECE project team sought to re-interview center-based providers, center-based workforce members, listed home-based providers, and unlisted and paid home-based providers, who completed surveys in the 2019 NSECE. Households participating in the 2019 NSECE were not included in the NSECE COVID-19 Longitudinal Follow-up. Data collection for the NSECE COVID-19 Longitudinal Follow-up took place across two waves between late 2020 and early 2022.

The NSECE was first conducted in 2012. Before that effort, there had been a 20-year long absence of nationally representative data on the use and availability of ECE. The NSECE was conducted again in 2019 to update the information from 2012 and shed light on how the ECE and school-age care landscape changed from 2012 to 2019. The 2019 NSECE followed a similar design as the 2012 survey, including surveying households with children under age 13, home-based providers, center-based providers, and staff working in center-based classrooms.

The 2019 NSECE is funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The project team is led by NORC at the University of Chicago, with partners Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago and Child Trends, as well as other collaborating individuals and organizations.

For additional information about this study, please see:

• NSECE project page on the OPRE website
• NSECE study page on NORC's website
• NSECE Data Users Page

For more information, tutorials, and reports related to the NSECE, please visit the Child and Family Data Archive's Data Training Resources from the NSECE page.