Home-Based Child Care in NYC in the Early Childhood Poverty Tracker
This report draws on the Early Childhood Poverty Tracker data from 2017 to 2020 and finds that as child care access and affordability struggles persist citywide, home-based care is an important lifeline for many parents from all walks of life, but especially for low-income parents who have an even harder time affording quality child care. Home-based care is often more affordable, and it may offer more schedule flexibility for working parents. However, home-based slots are vanishing, accelerated by the pandemic, and still remain unaffordable for most low-income families and about half of families above the poverty line.
This report finds that NYC families with children under age 3, those living in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, and those who are Black or Latino are especially reliant on home-based child care. If home-based care providers continue to struggle financially, these are the families who will be the most severely impacted. Policies that ease the costs on providers of operating programs as well as support the workers in the sector would help expand the availability of home-based care.
Key Points:
Many New York City families use home-based child care for their children under age 5. One out of three families surveyed for the Early Childhood Poverty Tracker used home-based care at some point between 2017 and 2020.
Families with children under age 3, those living in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, and those who are Black or Latino are especially reliant on home- based child care.
Three in five families who used home-based child care paid more than 7% of their annual incomes.
Without a subsidy, more than two in three working families in the city could not afford to pay the typical costs of home-based child care.
Even with a subsidy, only about 6% of families can afford to pay the “true cost of care,” allowing home-based care providers to earn salaries commensurate with center-based care staff.
Suggested Citation:
Cha, Eunho, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Kathryn Neckerman, and Jane Waldfogel. 2024. Spotlight on: Home-based child care in NYC in the Early Childhood Poverty Tracker. Poverty Tracker Report. New York City: Robin Hood.
The Poverty Tracker is a longitudinal study of the dynamics of poverty and disadvantage in New York City. It is a joint project of Robin Hood and Columbia University.