National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE), [United States], 2024 (ICPSR 39466)

Version Date: Jun 11, 2026

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Principal Investigator(s):
United States Department of Health and Human Services. Administration for Children and Families. Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation; NSECE Project Team (National Opinion Research Center)

Series:

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39466.v1

Version V1

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Alternate Title

NSECE 2024

Summary

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:

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.

Citation

United States Department of Health and Human Services. Administration for Children and Families. Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, and NSECE Project Team (National Opinion Research Center). National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE), [United States], 2024. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-06-11. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39466.v1

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Funding

United States Department of Health and Human Services. Administration for Children and Families. Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

Region (U.S.)

Restrictions

This data collection may not be used for any purpose other than statistical reporting and analysis. Use of these data to learn the identity of any person or establishment is prohibited. To protect respondent privacy, the NSECE Restricted-Use data files are not disseminated to the general public. Users interested in obtaining these data must agree to the terms and conditions of the Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for requesting each specific dataset, and obtain IRB approval or a notice of exemption for their research. For more information about the application requirements, please refer to this online document. If an applicant is not able to meet the requirements of any of the Data Security Plans for Secure Dissemination and/or plans to collaborate with researchers at another institution, please use the Virtual Data Enclave application.

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2024

Date of Collection

2024-03 -- 2024-11 (Workforce), 2024-01 -- 2024-11 (Household), 2023-12 -- 2024-11 (Providers (center- and home-based))

Data Collection Notes

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Study Purpose

The primary purpose of the 2024 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) was to provide a comprehensive snapshot of both the availability and utilization of early care and education (ECE) and school-age care in the United States in that year. The main objectives of the study included:

  • Developing a national portrait of the availability of ECE in 2024 for the full spectrum of care providers, including center-based and home-based providers and the ECE workforce in all 50 states and the District of Columbia
  • Identifying ECE and school-age care needs and preferences among households in the U.S. with children under age 13 related to supporting both parents' employment and children's development
  • Capturing data on all forms of non-parental care for all children under age 13 in a household
  • Providing the perspectives of both families and providers on the services offered in a system where children are often in multiple arrangements and providers receive funding from multiple sources
  • Linking the NSECE data set with policy-relevant data
  • Enhancing understanding of how well families' ECE needs are being met nationally and across communities, with an emphasis on the needs of families with low incomes

Study Design

The 2024 NSECE is a coordinated set of four nationally representative surveys pertaining to the supply of ECE and demand for ECE and school-age care in the United States, including the individuals working directly with children. To facilitate over-time comparisons, the 2024 NSECE largely replicates the design of the 2012 and 2019 NSECE, although all are cross-sectional surveys with no intentional overlap in the households or providers that were sampled.

As in previous NSECE waves, there are two primary sources of sample for the four surveys: a household sample and a provider sampling frame. NSECE constructed the household sample using an address-based sample of housing units in order to draw a nationally representative sample of the demand for ECE and school-age care. NSECE constructed the provider sampling frame from many administrative lists in order to draw a nationally representative sample of the supply of ECE.

Two surveys used the household sample and three surveys used the provider sampling frame. In the household sample, a household screener identified households who were eligible for the household survey and for the home-based provider survey. In the provider sampling frame, a center-based screener identified providers who were eligible for the center-based provider survey. The center-based provider survey then selected respondents for the workforce survey. Home-based providers were also selected for the home-based provider survey from the provider sampling frame. Note that the home-based provider survey includes both samples: the household sample (for unlisted providers) and the provider sampling frame (for listed providers).

Sample

The 2024 NSECE sample design is a multistage probability design. In the first stage, the NSECE selected 219 counties or county clusters as primary sampling units (PSUs) across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The NSECE allocated PSUs to states by size based on the population of children under age 13 within each state. In the second stage, the NSECE selected 747 secondary sampling units (SSUs) for the household sample. Because the experiences of low-income families are of special interest in public policy addressing ECE and school-age care, the NSECE sample design included a low-income oversample. The NSECE disproportionately selected SSUs from areas in which at least 35 percent of households had income below 250 percent of federal poverty guidelines. Altogether, the NSECE selected 747 SSUs, with 498 SSUs in these low-income areas. Because SSUs were newly sampled for 2024, census tracts overlap in the 2012, 2019, and 2024 NSECE samples only by chance.

There were two primary sources of sample for the four 2024 NSECE surveys. The first was the household sample, which was an address-based sample of housing units selected from the Delivery Sequence File (DSF) maintained by the United States Postal Service.

The second primary source of the 2024 NSECE sample was the provider sampling frame. The NSECE constructed a sampling frame of known providers from administrative lists in order to draw a nationally representative sample of the supply of ECE. The NSECE project team built the provider sampling frame through compiling and geo-coding all available state-level and national lists of providers of ECE collected from various agencies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These lists of providers included licensing, regulation, and license-exempt lists, as well as lists of providers in specific programs such as those offering Head Start or public pre-K.

Time Method

Cross-sectional

Universe

Households with children under age 13; center-based providers for children age birth through five years, not yet in kindergarten; classroom staff working in center-based settings for children age birth through five years, not yet in kindergarten; and home-based providers of care for children up to age 13, in the United States.

Unit(s) of Observation

Early care and education providers (center-based and home-based), Household, Center-based teachers/caregivers working directly with children

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables

  • Household Survey:

    Administered to: parents or guardians of one or more children under age 13 in households that had at least one child under age 13.

    Key topics include: details on usage of non-parental care, expenditures on non-parental care, parental search behavior for ECE, and the balance of parental employment with child care needs and availability. Also collects data from multiple children, details of parental searches for care, and includes innovative approaches for determining likely participation in government programs (such as Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), Head Start, or public pre-K).

    Key changes in the 2024 questionnaire compared to the 2019 questionnaire: Increased information on the child's non-residential parent and parental work from home and commute. Added questions regarding parent's care preferences, perceptions of their children's providers, challenges in finding and choosing child care, application and receipt of subsidies for working parents, challenges to applying and receiving child care subsidies, and clarification on types of single activities offered by a child's provider. Removed perception of types of care for children of a certain age and importance of topics considered in the respondent's last search for care. Revised questions about receipt of financial and food assistance, availability of emergency funds, parental reporting of missed work or pay, number of days respondent (or spouse/partner) needed to make special arrangements for child care, and types of providers considered during last child care search.

  • Home-based Provider Survey:

    Administered to: individuals who provided care at least five hours weekly in a home-based setting to at least one child under age 13 who was not their own.

    Key topics include: enrollment and characteristics of the children served, rates charged for care, participation in government programs, household composition, qualifications for and attitudes toward ECE, and use of curricula and activities conducted with children.

    Key changes in the 2024 questionnaire compared to the 2019 questionnaire: Added questions regarding family-provider relationships, provider business practices, provider burnout, and provider personal financial situation. Removed Parental Modernity Scale. Reduced items about professional development. Revised questions about languages spoken, perceptions of the subsidy system, and experiences with background checks.

  • Center-based Provider Survey:

    Administered to: directors and other instructional leaders of sampled ECE centers that provided care to children 5 years and under, not yet in kindergarten.

    Key topics include: enrollment and characteristics of children served, staffing, prices charged, schedules of service, participation in government programs, and staff compensation and professional development policies. The questionnaire also selected a representative classroom and collected more detailed information on staffing and compensation from that representative classroom.

    Key changes in the 2024 questionnaire compared to the 2019 questionnaire: Added questions regarding drop-in enrollments; communication with families who cannot speak English well; financial challenges; center practices related to behavioral, mental health, and academic supports; center business practices; staff vacancies; qualifications of staff by role; and barriers to professional development. Reduced or removed items on children with varying care schedules, child-level funding combinations, compliance with multiple performance standards, children's snacks and meals, and staff trainings.

  • Workforce Survey:

    Administered to: classroom-assigned teachers, assistants, and aides selected from completed center-based provider surveys.

    Key topics include: information about the work setting (activities in the classroom, interactions with parents and other staff, availability of professional development and other supports), roles and responsibilities (lead teacher, teacher, assistant teacher, aide), compensation (wages and benefits), and perceived leadership and morale, as well as personal information about qualifications, attitudes toward early care and education (ECE), and stress, depression, and demographic information.

    Key changes in the 2024 questionnaire compared to the 2019 questionnaire: Added questions regarding career trajectories, experiences with training to advice their career in ECE, additional compensation and benefits for ECE work over and above wages, multicultural teaching/caregiving, summer work arrangements, workplace wellness supports, worker burnout, and personal finances and receipt of public assistance. Removed the Parental Modernity Scale and Curbow Job Stress Inventory. Revised items on training and professional development, classroom activities and staff/child composition, and respondent's household.

Response Rates

2024 Response Rates

  • Household survey: A total of 55,673 English screening interviews were completed, for a weighted screener completion rate of 62 percent. From these, 6,403 eligible households completed a household interview, yielding a weighted interview completion rate of 56 percent. The overall weighted response rate is 35 percent.
  • Home-based provider survey: NSECE data includes a combined total of 4,845 listed and unlisted home-based provider interviews. For listed home-based providers, eligibility was confirmed for a total of 5,692 home-based providers, for a weighted screener completion rate of 75 percent. From these, 3,778 eligible listed home-based providers completed a home-based provider interview, yielding a weighted interview completion rate of 84 percent. The overall weighted response rate is 63 percent. Unlisted home-based providers were included in the household sample screening and had a weighted screener completion rate of 62 percent. From these, 1,067 eligible unlisted home-based providers completed a home-based provider interview, yielding a weighted interview completion rate of 65 percent. The overall weighted response rate for unlisted providers is 41 percent.
  • Center-based provider survey: A total of 11,871 screening interviews were completed, for a weighted screener completion rate of 80 percent. From these, 6,142 eligible center-based providers completed a center-based interview, yielding a weighted interview completion rate of 73 percent. An additional 1,141 records in the center-based provider data files were extracted from administrative data in lieu of interview data. The overall weighted response rate is 57 percent.
  • Workforce survey: Screening for workforce participants was part of the center-based provider interview. A total of 6,370 eligible workforce employees completed a workforce interview, yielding a weighted interview completion rate of 70 percent. The overall weighted response rate is 66 percent.

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Original Release Date

2026-06-11

Version History

2026-06-11 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Created online analysis version with question text.
  • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

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Weight

Please refer to the accompanying User's Guides for weighting information and usage for all datasets.

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Notes

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

  • ICPSR usually offers files in multiple formats for researchers to be able to access data and documentation in formats that work well within their needs. If you have questions about the accessibility of materials distributed by ICPSR or require further assistance, please visit ICPSR’s Accessibility Center.

  • One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.

CFDA logo

This study is maintained and distributed by the Child and Family Data Archive (CFData). CFData hosts datasets about young children, their families and communities, and the programs that serve them. CFData is supported by Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), an office of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.