Child Care in the United States: Markets, Policy, and Evidence

Abstract

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Minimum quality regulations and the demand for childcare labor

“…Recent work by Boyd-Swan andHerbst (2018) showed that a plurality of lead teachers (42%) have at least a bachelor's degree. This is confirmed by another recent paper using different data(Herbst, 2023). Second, some previous work shows that having a bachelor's degree is associated with higher center-based classroom quality(Blau, 2000) and positive teacher behavior(Blau, 1997).…”

“…Fully 72% of Head Start teachers have at least a bachelor's degree, while 33 out of 62 state-administered pre-kindergarten programs require all lead teachers to have such a degree (National Institute for Early Education Research [NIEER], 2016). 21 In contrast, only 27% of center-based child care teachers have a bachelor's degree (Herbst, 2023). Furthermore, a majority of pre-kindergarten programs require group sizes to be no higher than 20 (47 programs) and childto-staff ratios to be no higher than 10:1 (50 programs; NIEER, 2023).…”

Secure communities as immigration enforcement: How secure is the child care market?

“…The other drawback is that the ACS's school attendance question likely elicits responses about center-based child care participation, thereby excluding many forms of informal care (e.g., relative and neighbor caregivers and au pairs) as well as other formal providers (e.g., home-based care). Although center-based care is the predominant nonparental arrangement for preschool-age children, particularly for three-and four-year-olds, our empirical estimates should be interpreted as the center-based participation response to the enactment of SC (Herbst, 2022). In other words, this paper is unlikely to shed light on how immigration reform influenced participation in the informal sector.…”

“…The evidence also suggests that immigrant child care workers are relatively high-skilled: they are more likely than their native counterparts to have a college degree, and they earn higher wages on average (Table A2). These stylized facts are important, given that millions of parents rely on child care to support their employment and that early care participation can have powerful consequences for child development (Baker et al, 2019;Bernal and Keane, 2011;Herbst, 2013Herbst, , 2022Havnes and Mogstad, 2011). As a result, it is critical to understand whether shocks to immigrant labor supply-for example, through changes in geographic settlement patterns, economic conditions, or policy-alter the structure and functioning of the child care market.…”

Assessing the Fertility Effects of Childcare Cost Subsidies: Evidence from the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit

“…The costs of childcare have been consistently increasing, with estimates suggesting a 48 percent rise in expenses between 2005 and 2019 (Herbst, 2023).…”