This paper examines the child care arrangements of white, black, and Hispanic children by different child and family characteristics. The findings suggest that white children drive national child care patterns, masking different patterns among black and Hispanic children. The findings also indicate that while white, black, and Hispanic children come from families with different characteristics, only a few of the characteristics examined in the paper help to explain the variation in child care use among the groups. Other important characteristics (e.g.,income) were less helpful in understanding why white, black, and Hispanic children are placed in different forms of care.