Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
2017 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 202.30. Number of children under 6 years old and not yet enrolled in kindergarten, percentage in center-based programs, average weekly hours in nonparental care, and percentage in various types of primary care arrangements, by selected child and family characteristics: 2016
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected child or family characteristic Number of children under 6 years old (in thousands) Percent in center-based programs1 Average hours per week in nonparental care2 Percentage distribution of children, by type of care
Parental care only Nonparental care, by primary arrangement3
Center-based care Nonrelative home-based care Relative Multiple arrange-ments4
Total In another home In child's home
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Total children under 6 years
        old
21,362   (54.2) 35.9   (0.79) 30.6   (0.38) 40.3   (0.94) 29.4   (0.73) 10.0   (0.42) 6.9   (0.37) 3.2   (0.26) 18.5   (0.72) 1.8   (0.21)
Age                                                            
Under 1 year old 4,724   (150.4) 13.2   (1.13) 33.0   (0.60) 52.6   (2.13) 10.7   (0.87) 11.8   (1.08) 8.0   (0.88) 3.7   (0.61) 23.2   (1.90) 1.6   (0.45)
1 to 2 years old 8,552   (176.3) 24.7   (1.18) 30.8   (0.74) 46.0   (1.34) 21.4   (1.16) 11.4   (0.77) 7.9   (0.66) 3.5   (0.45) 19.9   (1.09) 1.3   (0.28)
3 to 5 years old 8,087   (91.1) 60.9   (1.49) 29.5   (0.56) 27.1   (1.47) 48.7   (1.44) 7.6   (0.55) 5.1   (0.46) 2.5   (0.34) 14.4   (1.02) 2.3   (0.32)
                                                             
Race/ethnicity of child and
    poverty status of household5
                                                           
White 10,731   (97.5) 38.5   (0.90) 30.5   (0.47) 37.8   (0.95) 31.4   (0.84) 12.4   (0.67) 8.5   (0.51) 3.9   (0.40) 16.4   (0.89) 2.0   (0.31)
Poor 1,182   (77.7) 23.4   (2.85) 27.4   (1.99) 59.3   (3.49) 19.7   (2.71) 4.7 ! (1.61) 2.6 ! (1.29) 2.1 ! (1.03) 14.8   (2.35)   (†)
Near-poor 1,962   (89.7) 25.5   (2.17) 30.5   (1.53) 51.7   (2.53) 17.8   (1.50) 9.0   (1.51) 7.5   (1.30) 1.5 ! (0.57) 19.8   (2.31) 1.8 ! (0.80)
Nonpoor 7,586   (77.6) 44.2   (1.23) 30.7   (0.44) 30.9   (1.30) 36.7   (1.13) 14.5   (0.85) 9.6   (0.65) 4.8   (0.53) 15.8   (0.94) 2.1   (0.30)
Black 2,837   (0.0) 40.3   (3.37) 33.5   (1.29) 32.5   (3.38) 31.6   (3.07) 8.8   (1.70) 6.6   (1.62) 2.2 ! (0.71) 24.9   (2.54) 2.3 ! (0.75)
Poor 1,069   (40.7) 35.4   (4.70) 35.1   (2.83) 40.2   (5.63) 22.9   (4.24) 9.4 ! (3.29) 6.4 ! (2.99)   (†) 25.1   (4.36)   (†)
Near-poor 725   (47.3) 35.2   (8.13) 31.0   (2.42) 33.2   (6.61) 31.2   (8.12) 5.8 ! (2.79)   (†)   (†) 29.3   (6.15)   (†)
Nonpoor 1,043   (32.9) 48.7   (4.75) 33.7   (1.81) 24.0   (4.32) 40.8   (4.57) 10.2   (2.76) 8.7 ! (2.67)   (†) 21.6   (3.97) 3.4 ! (1.61)
Hispanic 5,418   (1.6) 28.3   (1.60) 28.1   (0.87) 48.5   (2.23) 23.1   (1.54) 7.2   (0.98) 4.9   (0.78) 2.3   (0.55) 19.7   (1.56) 1.5   (0.36)
Poor 1,443   (44.1) 21.8   (3.13) 27.8   (2.14) 60.1   (4.04) 17.1   (2.72) 3.9 ! (1.53) 3.0 ! (1.35)   (†) 16.7   (2.88) 2.1 ! (0.84)
Near-poor 1,800   (91.8) 21.3   (2.63) 26.3   (2.00) 57.8   (4.08) 15.4   (2.12) 4.7   (1.40) 3.4 ! (1.10)   (†) 20.5   (3.04) 1.6 ! (0.79)
Nonpoor 2,175   (80.2) 38.4   (2.71) 29.2   (1.06) 33.2   (3.05) 33.4   (2.68) 11.3   (1.89) 7.4   (1.50) 3.9   (1.11) 21.1   (2.37) 1.0 ! (0.46)
Asian/Pacific Islander 1,009   (69.7) 36.1   (2.75) 30.0   (1.68) 43.2   (3.66) 30.9   (2.60) 5.7   (1.32) 2.3 ! (0.77) 3.5 ! (1.15) 19.6   (3.31)   (†)
Asian 995   (69.5) 35.9   (2.70) 30.3   (1.68) 43.1   (3.66) 30.6   (2.53) 5.8   (1.33) 2.3 ! (0.78) 3.5 ! (1.17) 19.9   (3.36)   (†)
Pacific Islander   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
American Indian/Alaska Native   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Two or more races 1,235   (77.7) 37.3   (3.56) 33.6   (1.40) 39.2   (3.62) 33.7   (3.37) 9.0   (1.68) 6.9   (1.59) 2.1 ! (0.73) 17.7   (2.43)   (†)
                                                             
Number of parents in the                                                            
household6                                                            
Two parents 16,428   (149.4) 35.8   (0.87) 29.3   (0.41) 42.9   (1.02) 30.0   (0.83) 9.8   (0.47) 6.5   (0.39) 3.3   (0.31) 15.5   (0.76) 1.8   (0.24)
One parent 4,449   (164.2) 36.5   (2.09) 34.2   (0.82) 32.3   (2.12) 27.5   (1.84) 11.5   (1.29) 8.7   (1.18) 2.8   (0.64) 27.1   (1.97) 1.7   (0.40)
                                                             
Mother in household                                                            
Yes 20,233   (99.4) 36.1   (0.81) 30.3   (0.36) 40.9   (0.98) 29.7   (0.79) 10.1   (0.45) 6.9   (0.37) 3.2   (0.28) 17.4   (0.74) 1.8   (0.22)
No 1,129   (80.9) 32.3   (3.39) 34.0   (1.85) 28.9   (3.90) 23.2   (2.73) 8.8   (2.50) 6.6 ! (2.23) 2.2 ! (0.96) 38.1   (4.13)   (†)
                                                             
Mother's employment status7                                                            
Currently employed 12,154   (179.6) 45.5   (1.11) 33.2   (0.40) 21.1   (1.04) 36.5   (0.97) 15.2   (0.72) 10.9   (0.59) 4.3   (0.43) 24.6   (1.07) 2.6   (0.31)
35 or more hours per week 8,884   (159.5) 49.3   (1.31) 35.9   (0.45) 15.9   (1.08) 39.9   (1.14) 17.5   (0.87) 12.8   (0.71) 4.7   (0.52) 24.2   (1.14) 2.6   (0.36)
Less than 35 hours per week 3,270   (130.0) 35.2   (2.07) 23.6   (0.85) 35.3   (2.14) 27.2   (1.79) 9.1   (0.99) 5.8   (0.92) 3.2   (0.51) 25.9   (2.02) 2.5   (0.60)
Looking for work 795   (66.6) 22.2   (3.89) 22.0   (2.50) 59.9   (4.33) 15.4   (3.08) 5.6 ! (2.39)   (†)   (†) 16.9   (3.67)   (†)
Not in labor force 7,811   (152.6) 22.7   (1.12) 20.6   (0.87) 69.0   (1.51) 20.4   (1.11) 2.3   (0.41) 0.8   (0.20) 1.5   (0.31) 7.9   (0.91) 0.4 ! (0.15)
                                                             
Mother's highest education7                                                            
Less than high school 2,716   (88.3) 20.9   (3.66) 27.6   (2.07) 60.4   (4.32) 18.0   (3.61) 5.5   (1.51) 3.9 ! (1.45) 1.7 ! (0.72) 15.4   (2.23)   (†)
High school/GED 4,085   (86.0) 25.3   (1.66) 29.4   (1.10) 51.0   (2.40) 18.5   (1.54) 6.1   (1.08) 4.5   (0.90) 1.6 ! (0.62) 21.8   (2.23) 2.5   (0.61)
Vocational/technical or                                                            
some college 3,698   (93.1) 33.7   (1.47) 28.8   (0.92) 41.1   (1.52) 27.6   (1.51) 9.2   (1.02) 7.8   (0.97) 1.4 ! (0.44) 20.9   (1.61) 1.2 ! (0.42)
Associate's degree 1,752   (94.1) 33.4   (2.49) 33.3   (1.35) 39.0   (2.81) 26.2   (2.02) 10.8   (1.84) 9.5   (1.53)   (†) 22.1   (2.22) 1.9 ! (0.64)
Bachelor's degree 5,675   (126.7) 45.1   (1.40) 30.3   (0.61) 33.9   (1.52) 38.1   (1.42) 10.9   (0.74) 7.2   (0.69) 3.7   (0.52) 15.4   (1.17) 1.7   (0.35)
Graduate/professional degree 2,835   (49.7) 52.5   (1.71) 33.0   (0.76) 20.5   (1.51) 44.5   (1.61) 18.6   (1.45) 9.5   (0.98) 9.2   (1.03) 14.2   (1.37) 2.2   (0.47)
                                                             
Language spoken most at home
    by mother7
                                                           
English 16,847   (167.2) 37.9   (0.78) 30.9   (0.40) 38.0   (0.91) 31.1   (0.72) 11.0   (0.54) 7.7   (0.44) 3.3   (0.28) 18.1   (0.80) 1.8   (0.25)
Non-English 2,640   (149.9) 26.4   (2.35) 28.0   (1.58) 52.4   (3.52) 22.5   (2.31) 6.7   (1.39) 4.0   (1.12) 2.7 ! (0.80) 16.6   (2.28) 1.8 ! (0.62)
English and another                                                            
language equally 1,273   (85.0) 30.5   (2.97) 26.4   (1.57) 50.6   (3.68) 25.3   (2.82) 3.8 ! (1.43) 1.4 ! (0.53)   (†) 19.7   (2.43)   (†)
                                                             
Mother's age when first became
    parent7
                                                           
Less than 18 1,237   (100.9) 26.0   (3.81) 32.2   (1.90) 50.4   (4.78) 20.1   (3.59) 6.5   (1.85) 5.4 ! (1.66)   (†) 21.6   (3.61)   (†)
18 or 19 2,476   (155.5) 25.7   (3.26) 31.7   (1.67) 47.0   (3.96) 21.0   (3.07) 8.4   (1.66) 6.3   (1.47) 2.2 ! (0.79) 22.2   (2.36) 1.3 ! (0.55)
20 or older 16,899   (176.1) 38.3   (0.86) 30.2   (0.39) 38.9   (1.00) 31.7   (0.81) 10.5   (0.50) 7.1   (0.41) 3.4   (0.30) 17.1   (0.81) 1.8   (0.23)
                                                             
Household income                                                            
$20,000 or less 3,049   (10.3) 30.5   (2.28) 31.3   (1.66) 52.3   (2.48) 22.5   (2.07) 5.7   (1.41) 3.8 ! (1.22) 1.9 ! (0.74) 17.4   (1.95) 2.2 ! (0.66)
$20,001 to $50,000 5,706   (53.6) 26.7   (1.87) 30.0   (0.85) 50.2   (2.03) 21.3   (1.88) 6.5   (0.75) 5.2   (0.67) 1.3   (0.34) 20.8   (1.48) 1.3   (0.31)
$50,001 to $75,000 3,821   (0.0) 27.7   (1.60) 29.1   (0.87) 43.9   (2.18) 21.6   (1.41) 11.6   (1.28) 9.5   (1.20) 2.1   (0.59) 21.0   (1.67) 1.9   (0.57)
$75,001 to $100,000 2,882   (0.0) 38.4   (2.39) 29.9   (0.96) 34.2   (2.16) 31.9   (2.14) 10.4   (1.28) 8.8   (1.23) 1.6   (0.39) 21.8   (2.21) 1.7   (0.42)
Over $100,000 5,904   (4.6) 51.5   (1.58) 31.7   (0.46) 25.3   (1.46) 44.6   (1.52) 14.5   (0.87) 7.4   (0.60) 7.1   (0.76) 13.8   (1.09) 1.9   (0.33)
                                                             
Poverty status of household5                                                            
Poor 4,203   (92.6) 26.8   (1.98) 30.9   (1.27) 54.4   (2.53) 20.3   (1.81) 5.4   (1.10) 3.7   (0.96) 1.7 ! (0.58) 18.1   (1.93) 1.7   (0.49)
Near-poor 4,997   (156.1) 25.2   (1.82) 29.1   (0.91) 51.3   (2.16) 19.2   (1.74) 6.4   (0.76) 5.0   (0.65) 1.4   (0.38) 21.6   (1.67) 1.4   (0.42)
Nonpoor 12,162   (109.4) 43.4   (0.98) 30.9   (0.40) 30.9   (1.11) 36.7   (0.93) 13.1   (0.64) 8.7   (0.53) 4.4   (0.42) 17.4   (0.86) 1.9   (0.25)
                                                             
Household size                                                            
2 or 3 persons 5,109   (114.0) 41.1   (1.33) 33.7   (0.75) 32.3   (1.36) 34.5   (1.31) 12.2   (0.93) 8.5   (0.87) 3.7   (0.50) 18.6   (1.38) 2.2   (0.40)
4 persons 7,574   (116.9) 40.8   (1.42) 30.1   (0.55) 37.1   (1.49) 33.6   (1.27) 11.0   (0.92) 7.9   (0.78) 3.0   (0.50) 16.6   (1.00) 1.8   (0.39)
5 persons 4,610   (164.4) 33.3   (1.77) 28.7   (0.89) 44.1   (2.03) 27.0   (1.62) 8.5   (0.93) 5.1   (0.78) 3.4   (0.59) 19.2   (1.60) 1.3   (0.34)
6 or more persons 4,069   (166.3) 23.1   (1.64) 28.6   (1.11) 52.0   (2.60) 17.7   (1.53) 7.3   (1.06) 4.9   (0.97) 2.4   (0.63) 21.3   (2.05) 1.6   (0.44)
                                                             
Locale                                                            
City 7,246   (180.0) 36.4   (1.35) 30.8   (0.66) 40.2   (1.80) 29.6   (1.24) 9.7   (0.73) 5.9   (0.65) 3.8   (0.54) 18.8   (1.34) 1.7   (0.35)
Suburban 8,733   (203.4) 37.7   (1.30) 29.3   (0.61) 38.4   (1.39) 31.8   (1.18) 9.3   (0.69) 6.2   (0.61) 3.2   (0.42) 18.9   (1.09) 1.5   (0.25)
Town 1,931   (96.0) 31.2   (2.44) 30.3   (1.24) 44.2   (2.87) 24.3   (2.47) 10.5   (1.63) 7.7   (1.38) 2.8 ! (1.05) 19.0   (2.47)   (†)
Rural 3,452   (141.6) 32.8   (2.02) 33.5   (1.19) 43.2   (2.22) 25.6   (1.81) 12.2   (1.23) 10.1   (1.01) 2.0   (0.49) 16.7   (1.94) 2.3   (0.63)
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.
1 Center-based arrangements include day care centers, Head Start programs, preschools, prekindergartens, and other early childhood programs.
2 Mean hours per week per child, among preschool children enrolled in any type of nonparental care arrangement. For children with more than one arrangement, the hours of each weekly arrangement were summed to calculate the total amount of time in child care per week.
3 A child's primary arrangement is the regular nonparental care arrangement or early childhood education program in which the child spent the most time per week.
4 Children who spent an equal number of hours per week in multiple nonparental care arrangements.
5 Poor children are those whose family incomes were below the Census Bureau's poverty threshold in the year prior to data collection; near-poor children are those whose family incomes ranged from the poverty threshold to 199 percent of the poverty threshold; and nonpoor children are those whose family incomes were at or above 200 percent of the poverty threshold. The poverty threshold is a dollar amount that varies depending on a family's size and composition and is updated annually to account for inflation. In 2015, for example, the poverty threshold for a family of four with two children was $24,257. Survey respondents are asked to select the range within which their income falls, rather than giving the exact amount of their income; therefore, the measure of poverty status is an approximation.
6 Excludes children living apart from their parents.
7 Excludes children living in households with no mother or female guardian present.
NOTE: For the 2016 administration of the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), initial contact with all respondents was by mail, and the majority of respondents received paper-and-pencil questionnaires. However, as an experiment with web use, a small sample of NHES:2016 respondents received mailed invitations to complete the survey online. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Program Participation Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (ECPP-NHES:2016). (This table was prepared December 2017.)

2017 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest