ABSTRACT

Families to examine child care patterns for young children in the United States. The paper examines three general features of children's early care and education participation: (1) primary care arrangements, classified as center-based care, family child care, relative care, nanny or babysitter, and parent-only; (2) number of hours in nonparental care; and (3) number of nonparental arrangements children participate in on a regular basis each week, and the percentage of children using two or more such arrangements. Major findings indicate that more than two-thirds of children who are under age 5 and not in school experience nonparental care. Primary care providers shift from parents and relatives to center-based care as children get older