Status and Trends in the Education of American Indians and Alaska Natives: 2008

NCES 2008-084
September 2008

1.9. Child Care

At 2 years of age and 4 years of age, few differences were detected among the child care arrangements of American Indian/Alaska Native children and children of other races/ethnicities.

Figure 1.9. Percentage distribution of primary type of care arrangements at about 9 months, 2 years, and 4 years of age, by selected race/ethnicity: 2001, 2004, and 2006

Percentage distribution of primary type of care arrangements at about 9 months, 2 years,
and 4 years of age, by selected race/ethnicity: 2001, 2004, and 2006

# Rounds to zero.
! Interpret data with caution.
¹ Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. For the 9-month estimates, race/ethnicity was determined by information collected at the 9-month round (X1CHRACE); for the 2-year estimates, race/ethnicity was determined by information collected at the 2-year round (X2CHRACE), and for the 4-year estimates, race/ethnicity was determined by information collected at the preschool round (X3CHRACE).
NOTE: Estimates weighted by W1R0 for children at about 9 months of age, by W2R0 for children at about 2 years of age, and by W3R0 for children at about 4 years of age. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding and suppression of cells that do not meet standards.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort, Longitudinal 9-month–2-year Restricted-Use Data File and Longitudinal 9-month–Preschool Restricted-Use Data File.

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) of 2001 has followed a nationally representative cohort of children from birth through preschool age. This indicator presents findings on these children's early education and child care arrangements in 2000–01, 2003–04, and 2005–06, when most of the children were about 9 months, 2 years, and 4 years old, respectively. At each of these collections, parents provided information on whether their child was in nonparental child care and, if so, what type of care (relative, nonrelative, or center-based).

In 2001, some 46 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native children 9 months of age were in some kind of regular nonparental child care arrangement. Forty-three percent of 2-year-old American Indian/Alaska Native children in 2004 and 80 percent of 4-year-old American Indian/Alaska Native children in 2006 were in some kind of child care.

Six percent of American Indian/Alaska Native 9-month-old children were in home-based care with a nonrelative. This was a smaller percentage than that of children of more than one race having this childcare arrangement (16 percent), as well as that of White (17 percent), Black (15 percent), Hispanic (11 percent), and Asian children (10 percent) having this arrangement. A greater percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native 9-month-old children (12 percent) were in center-based care than Hispanic (5 percent) and Asian children (4 percent).

At 2 years of age and 4 years of age, few differences were detected among the child care arrangements between American Indian/Alaska Native children and those of other race groups, partly because of large standard errors. A lower percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native 2-year-old children received center-based care in 2004 (14 percent) than Black 2-year-old children (24 percent). In 2006, the percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native 4-yearolds receiving center-based care was not significantly different from Black, White, and Asian 4-year olds, but was higher than the percentage for Hispanics (60 percent vs. 49 percent).

View Table 1.9