Graphic from Florida's State Employee Child Care Services Program Measuring the Economic Impact of the Informal Child Care Sector Amy Lake and Eun-Young Choi University of Missouri-Columbia Community Policy Analysis Center June 28, 2006

What do we mean by the informal child care sector? SubsidizedUnsubsidized Regulated Child Care Arrangements Centers Group Day Care Homes Licensed Day Care Homes Registered Family Day Care Homes Legally Exempt Child Care Arrangements Relative Care In-Home Care Friend & Neighbor Child Care Illegal Child Care Arrangements Illegal Providers Definition of informal child care:  exempt from licensing regulations  In-home care, Relative care, friends & neighbors child care

Why are we interested in the informal child care sector? 48% of working mothers who have children under 5 years old use informal daycare 52% use licensed / regulated or family facilities ( dy.pdf)

Some assumptions about the child care industry based on national studies The cost of child care in urban areas tends to be higher than in rural areas The proportion of household income spent on child care tends to be higher in rural areas than urban Center-based child care (formal) tends to be more expensive than family-based Child care services for infants (under 18 months) tends to be higher than for older children

Kansas County Population Density Densely settled rural, 20 to less than 40 persons per square mile (19 Counties) Frontier, Less than 6 persons per square mile (31 Counties) Rural, 6 to less than 20 persons per square mile (38 Counties) Semi-Urban, 40 to less than 150 persons per square mile (12 Counties) Urban, persons per square mile (5 Counties) 333 Source: The Kansas Department of Health and Environment

Basic approach 1. Estimate number of children < 6 in the formal childcare sector 2. Estimate the number of children <6 in households with all parent (s) working 3. Estimate the average cost of formal childcare by county

Basic approach “Market value” of informal childcare = (Y - Z) x (Ave. cost of childcare) where Y = number of children <6 in households with all parent (s) working Z = Number of children < 6 in the formal childcare sector

Estimated Annual Cost of Formal Child Care Per Child for Kansas Counties $3,501~ $4,070 $1,245 ~ $3,500 $4,071 ~ $4,460 $4,461 ~ $7,959 Source: Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services Annual Ave. KS Cost: $ 3947 Rural Average: $ 3757 Urban Average: $ 4936

Formal Child Care Costs as a Percentage of Median Household Income, Kansas Counties 11% 12% 10.1% 14% 8.1% 10% 9.6% 15% 13.9% 12.6% 3.9% 11.1% 4.2% 14.2% 7.8% 9.1% 13% 8.7% 11.7% 12.7% 12.2% 12.7% 12.1% 6.8% 9.1% 13.9% 11% 13% 9.5% 7.3% 11.1% 13.1% 11.2% 6.5% 10.6% 11.3% 15.7% 13.2% 14.1%12.5% 7.7% 12.6% 4.4% 13.4% 10.3% 5.2% 13.3% 13.7% 7.7% 10.4% 11.5% 13.5% 14.2% 10.7% 6.9% 10% 7.7% 14.3% 13.9% 9.2% 11.6% 3.2% 12.7% 12.6% 12.3% 13.4% 11.7% 10.6% 11.3% 12.4% 13.2% 14.2% 12.2% 10.2% 6.7% 15.4% 13% 11.7% 12.1% 12.8% 11.2% 11.7% 11.5% 11.9% 10.2% 11.7% 11.1% 11.2% 13.3% 11.3% 12.5% 10.4% 13.3% 11.4% 10.5% 15.9% 10% 18.8% 13.9% 9.4% 15.7% 11.2% 13.9% 15.5% 3.2% % 10.3% % 11.9% % 13.4% % Source: Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services Kansas Average: 11.4% Rural Average: 11.3% Urban Average: 11.8%

Numbers of Children in Informal Care (Estimated) for Kansas Counties * ~ 12* invalid estimates 13 ~ ~ ~ Source: Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services & Census 2000 KS Children informal care: 38,370 (28%**) Rural Children informal care : 12,808 (25%**) Urban Children informal care : 25,561 (30%**) ** % of children < 6 with working parents in informal child care arrangements) (Children under 6 years old)

Estimated Cost of Informal Child Care for Kansas Counties (In millions of dollars) $2.65 $5.10 $1.13 $1.54 $0.94 $1.59 $0.35 $0.47 $0.14 $0.00 $0.17 $5.05 $0.05 $0.21 $0.00* $0.07 $0.28 $0.20 $0.43 $1.15 $0.01 $0.51 $0.94 $0.62 $0.22 $0.00 $0.01 $0.02 $0.09 $0.39 $0.60 $0.06 $3.70 $0.20 $0.65 $0.00 $2.01 $0.41 $3.24 $0.00 $0.65 $0.00 $0.05 $62.82 $0.58 $0.00 $0.17 $0.01 $0.00 $1.01 $0.36 $0.14 $1.10 $0.11 $0.00 $0.66 $0.00 $0.07 $0.00 $0.07 $0.00 $0.12 $0.19 $0.43 $0.45 $1.46 $0.14 $0.78 $0.19 $0.17 $0.57 $1.24 $0.94 $1.41 $0.19 $2.02 $0.03 $0.00 $0.09 $0.00 $0.87 $0.96 $0.57 $0.40 $2.26 $8.25 $0.27 $1.62 $0.65 $0.00 $0.13 $0.00 $0.06 $0.00 $2.28 $49.97 $0.00 $0.25 $9.26 $2.37 $0.00 $17.32 $0* estimate not available $ $0.26-$1.00 $1.01 -$62.82 Kansas Total: $ 210 million Rural Total : $ 52 million Urban Total:$ 158 million Source: Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services.

Conclusions and questions Informal childcare is important in terms of providing alternatives for parents and guardians and also as an economic engine How can this information inform policy at the state, national and local levels? How can we refine the estimates that we’ve made about the informal child care sector?

Contact information Amy Lake, Extension Associate Phone: Eun-Young Choi, Graduate Research Assistant Phone: Community Policy Analysis Center – UMC 215 Middlebush Hall Columbia MO 65211