Why This Matters

Providing every infant and toddler in the United States with access high-quality early care and education (ECE) requires providing families with options that reduce the financial barriers that make care out of reach for many. Policymakers are seeking evidence about variability in potential demand for infant and toddler ECE, cost, and infant and toddler policies. 

What We Found

• State-level differences exist in the share of infants and toddlers eligible to participate in publicly funded infant and toddler ECE, costs of infant and toddler ECE, requirements for ratios of adults to infant and toddlers attending ECE, and actions states are taking or plan to take to support infant and toddler ECE.
• Cost of infant and toddler ECE varies substantially by state, ranging from a low of less than $7,000 a year to a high of over $22,000 per year.
• Sizeable variation exists in the ratios of adults to infants and toddlers, quality standards and requirements for infant and toddler providers.
• States are taking and planning actions to improve the quality and supply of infant and toddler ECE.

How We Did It

We performed descriptive statistical analysis of data from the 2019–23 American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata (PUMS) dataset to answer questions about potential demand for infant and toddler ECE and variation by characteristic. To answer questions about costs, we analyzed cost data collected by Child Care Aware of America, and to answer questions about licensing requirements and state actions to support infant and toddler ECE we reviewed, coded, and performed descriptive analysis of each state’s Child Care and Development Plans (2025–27).