This summary highlights key takeaways from a partnership among Child Trends, the University of Minnesota, and the Minnesota Department of Human Services funded by a grant awarded in 2019 by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration of Children and Families. Explore takeaways from other Child Care Policy Research Partnership Grant teams here.

Families searching for early child care and education (ECE) for their children often struggle to access care that meets their needs, is affordable, and supports their children’s development.

The research team conducted two statewide family surveys to learn whether Minnesota families’ current ECE arrangements align with their priorities and preferences.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The research team found that families receiving child care subsidies used care arrangements that were less aligned with their needs and preferences compared with families who paid for child care privately. Among families receiving subsidies, 75 percent said they would prefer different care hours than their program offered.

Among all families surveyed, some families were more likely than others to report using care that did not align with their needs. Compared with families who were white, families who were multiracial, Hispanic, or Black reported using care arrangements that were significantly less aligned with their needs and preferences. Families with more than one child, children in kindergarten or above, or lower incomes used care that was less aligned with their needs compared with families with one child, young children, or higher incomes.

Families using care arrangements that were less aligned with their needs and preferences were less likely to recommend their current provider.

POLICY AND PROGRAM IMPLICATIONS

To improve families’ access to child care, state policymakers could consider the following:

• Addressing the barriers families face as they seekcare that aligns with their priorities and preferences. Policymakers could look at how ECE preferences and priorities differ by family characteristics, such as income, race, ethnicity, geographic region, and the age and number of children in the household. They could then engage families in developing tailored solutions that meet their diverse circumstances.
• Recognizing and supporting the characteristics of ECE programs that families prefer. With additional resources, ECE programs could do more to meet families’ transportation, flexible scheduling, preferred care hours, and cost needs. Expanding the variety of ECE options would particularly help families with low incomes address these challenges.

METHODOLOGY

The research team conducted two surveys among families in Minnesota that had at least one child enrolled in an ECE program. The surveys asked families about access to care and how important certain factors were when selecting care, such as cost, transportation, out-of-pocket expenses, and subsidy receipt.

The team first recruited families in late 2021 by asking ECE providers to forward the survey to families in their programs. One percent of the families who completed the survey reported receiving child care subsidies. To reach more families who use subsidies, the research team worked with state administrators in 2022 to survey families with subsidies. In total, across the two time points, 1,043 families completed the survey. About one-third (34 percent) of the sample received subsidies and two-thirds (66 percent) paid for child care privately.