The spatial inequality of early care and education centers

Given the importance of early care and education (ECE) programs for children's development and parents’ labor force participation, it is critical to ensure communities — particularly those home to historically marginalized populations — have predictable and equitable access to programming and services. Yet, there are few useful data resources and thus relatively little research examining variation in local access to ECE programs. In this article, we examine county-level disparities in participation in and availability of ECE centers by child poverty rate, racial and ethnic composition, and urban-rural geography using a unique national dataset of county-level ECE program enrollment and expenditures from 2000 to 2019. Measures of ECE access in these data reflect a mix of publicly provided and funded programs, as well as privately-run programs that may be operated by nonprofit or for-profit entities. Findings suggest that public ECE per capita enrollment is higher in rural than urban counties, whereas private ECE program enrollment appears more highly concentrated in urban counties. Counties with higher child poverty rates also have lower enrollment rates at private ECE centers compared to counties with lower child poverty rates. We find mixed results when comparing public (e.g., public preschool, Head Start) and private ECE enrollment across counties by racial and ethnic composition. Finally, we examine year-over-year volatility in ECE enrollment and expenditures and find that public ECE programs are more stable compared to private ECE programming, which may promote equity in ECE stability.