Table 10. Mean child-to-care provider ratio for children from birth through age 5 and not yet in kindergarten in weekly nonparental care arrangements, by child and family characteristics: 2005
Characteristic	Number of children (thousands)	Mean number of children per care provider1
		Relative	Nonrelative	Center-based2
Total	12,344	1.6	3.1	6.0
Child’s age
Less than 1 year	1,471	1.4	2.8	3.9
1-2 years	4,262	1.6	3.0	4.7
3-5 years	6,611	1.6	3.3	6.6
Child’s sex
Male	6,411	1.5	3.0	6.0
Female	5,934	1.6	3.2	6.0
Child’s race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic	7,088	1.4	3.3	5.9
Black, non-Hispanic	2,039	2.0	2.9	6.1
Hispanic	2,096	1.6	2.4	6.2
Asian or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic	348	1.3	3.2	6.5
Other race, non-Hispanic3	773	1.4	3.5	5.6
Family type
Two parents	9,168	1.5	3.2	6.1
One parent	2,961	1.7	2.9	5.7
Nonparent guardian(s)	216	1.3	2.0	5.8
Parents’ language spoken most at home4
Both/only parent(s) speak(s) English	11,090	1.6	3.2	6.0
One of two parents speaks English	210	1.2	1.5	7.4
No parent speaks English	1,044	1.6	2.4	6.0
Mother’s level of education5
Less than a high school	730	1.5	2.7	5.9
High school/GED	3,104	1.6	2.9	5.8
Vocational/technical or some college	3,504	1.8	3.4	6.1
Bachelor’s degree	2,845	1.3	3.1	6.1
Graduate or professional education   or degree	1,905	1.3	3.0	6.0
Mother’s school enrollment status4
Enrolled	1,894	1.5	2.8	5.8
Not enrolled	10,194	1.6	3.2	6.0
Mother’s employment status5
35 or more hours per week	6,078	1.5	3.4	6.0
Less than 35 hours per week	2,978	1.5	2.9	5.9
Looking for work	652	2.9	2.6	5.4
Not in the labor force	2,380	1.4	2.0	6.2
Mother’s work shift5, 6
Regular shift	7,985	1.5	3.3	6.0
Variable shift	1,071	1.5	2.9	6.1
Neighborhood conditions7
Concern regarding neighborhood   health and safety conditions	2,018	2.0	3.0	5.9
No concern regarding neighborhood   health and safety conditions	10,327	1.5	3.1	6.0
Household income
$25,000 or less	3,008	1.9	2.7	5.9
$25,001 to $50,000	2,767	1.4	3.1	6.1
$50,001 to $75,000	2,635	1.6	3.4	6.0
$75,001 to $100,000	1,775	1.3	3.5	6.0
$100,001 or more	2,159	1.4	2.7	6.0
Poverty status8
At or above poverty threshold	10,017	1.4	3.2	6.0
Below poverty threshold	2,328	2.0	2.7	5.9
1Estimates indicate number of children per care provider, per child, across relative, nonrelative, and center-based arrangements. For children with more than one arrangement of a single type, the mean child-to-care provider ratio is calculated for each child. 2Center-based arrangements include day care centers, Head Start programs, preschools, prekindergartens, and other early childhood programs. 3"Other race, non-Hispanic" includes children who were multiracial and not of Hispanic ethnicity, or who were American Indian or Alaska Native, or were not Hispanic, White, Black, Asian, or Pacific Islander. 4Complete descriptions of the categories for parents’ language are as follows: (1) "Both/only parent(s) learned English as child(ren) or currently speak(s) English in the home," (2) "One of two parents learned English as a child or currently speaks English in the home," and (3) "No parent learned English as a child and both/only parent(s) currently speak(s) a non-English language in the home." 5Children without mothers living in the household are not included in estimates related to mother’s education, enrollment, employment status, or work shift. 6Work shifts were collapsed into two categories: regular and variable work shifts. A regular work shift is one with set hours. A variable shift is one that changes from days to evenings or nights regardless of whether the hours are set by the employer or the employee. 7Parents or guardians respond "yes" or "no" to the question: "Are there any conditions in your neighborhood that make you worried about the health or safety of ((CHILD)/any of the children) in your household?" 8Children are considered poor if they were living in households with incomes below the poverty threshold, which is a dollar amount determined by the federal government to meet the household’s needs, given its size and composition. NOTE: Estimates include all children from birth through 5 years of age, and not yet in kindergarten, with at least one weekly nonparental care arrangement. Children with multiple arrangements are included in estimates. 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:2005).