Publication Date
This brief analyzes the 2024 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) household survey to describe parents’ child care preferences, priorities, and decisions. Key findings include:
- Parents want different things when it comes to child care.
- Among parents with a child under five, a majority want either parental care or a home-based provider (61 percent combined). Among just parents of three and four year-olds (preschool-aged children), more parents report wanting center-based care compared with parents of younger children, but a majority still prefer parental or home-based care.
- Preferences shift meaningfully with child age: parents of children ages zero to two (infants and toddlers) are more likely to want home-based care (29 percent) than parents of three and four year-olds (21 percent), while the reverse holds for center-based care.
- Actual child care arrangements should not be treated as a direct measure of what parents want; cost, local supply, and availability all shape what families end up using, independent of what they would prefer.
- Finding care that matches a family's needs is a significant challenge for many parents, even when cost is not a consideration. Availability of open slots and hours that align with work schedules are the most commonly cited difficulties.
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