Educated, Affluent Parents Most Likely to Use Day Care

Sixty percent of the nation's preschoolers are in a nonparental care arrangement (day care) at least weekly, according to a National Center for Education Statistics survey. But there are big differences in day care use by parental education and income...

Children aged 0 through 5 in day care at least once/week by parent's education
41% of those whose parent did not graduate from high school
49% of those whose parent has only a high school diploma
60% of those whose parent has some college or an associate's degree
64% of those whose parent has a bachelor's degree
75% of those whose parent has a graduate or professional degree

Day care use also varies by family income. Only 48 percent of preschoolers whose family income is below $20,000 are in day care at least once a week compared with 75 percent of those with an income above $100,000.

Day care use rises with education and income because of its high cost. In 2016, households with a child who attended a day care center spent an average of $1,769 per quarter on the service, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey—an annual average of more than $7,000.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Program Participation, Results from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2016