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2024 STATE FACT SHEET

CHILD CARE & EARLY LEARNING IN CALIFORNIA

First Five Years Fund

In California, federal and state early learning opportunities serve more than 464,577 children and families, or 17% of children ages 5 and under.

High quality child care and early learning programs support child development and offer parents peace of mind while they work or attend school.

Unfortunately, the demand for quality care far outweighs the supply, so many families struggle to access and afford the care options they want or need. While there are several federally funded programs that provide working families with access to quality child care opportunities, limited funding leaves many eligible children unserved. The impacts of these challenges extend beyond families and carry over to the workplace. As a direct result, the national economy loses $122 billion annually in the form of lost earnings, productivity, and revenue.

Below is a list of existing child care and early learning programs which together form a mix delivery system that supports parental choice and aims to meet children’s individual needs. These programs have unique eligibility requirements and service delivery models. However, at current funding levels, each only reaches a fraction of eligible families.

STATE OF CHILD CARE IN CALIFORNIA

2,716,856
Children 5 & Under

62%
Children 5 & Under with All Available Parents in the Workforce

Data not available
Licensed Child Care Centers in 2023

Data not available
Licensed Family Child Care Homes in 2023

40%
Gap in the Supply of Child Care vs. the Potential Need

$17B  
Estimated Economic Impact of Infant-Toddler Child Care Challenges Each Year

$19,547 Annual Price of Center-Based Infant Care ($1,629 per month) $16,432 Annual Price of Home-Based Infant Care ($1,369 per month)
$130,474 Median Income of Married-Couple Family 15.0% Portion of Income Spent by a Married-Couple Family on Center-Based Infant Care
$41,887 Median Income of Single-Parent Family 46.7% Portion of Income Spent by a Single-Parent Family on Center-Based Infant Care

CHILD CARE & DEVELOPMENT
BLOCK GRANT (CCDBG)
639,963 CHILDREN 5 & UNDER ELIGIBLE
75,950 CHILDREN 5 & UNDER SERVED

12 Percent

ELIGIBLE CHILDREN 5 & UNDER SERVED

CHILD CARE & DEVELOPMENT
BLOCK GRANT (CCDBG)
639,963 CHILDREN 5 & UNDER ELIGIBLE
75,950 CHILDREN 5 & UNDER SERVED

25 Percent

ELIGIBLE CHILDREN 5 & UNDER SERVED

CHILD CARE & DEVELOPMENT
BLOCK GRANT (CCDBG)
639,963 CHILDREN 5 & UNDER ELIGIBLE
75,950 CHILDREN 5 & UNDER SERVED

13 Percent

ELIGIBLE CHILDREN 5 & UNDER SERVED

STATE-FUNDED PRE-K
204,733 CHILDREN ENROLLED

23 Percent

3-AND 4-YEAR
OLDS SERVED

MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START 5,892 CHILDREN ENROLLED
MATERNAL, INFANT, AND EARLY CHILDHOOD HOME VISITING (MIECHV) 2,470 FAMILIES SERVED
IDEA PART C (EARLY INTERVENTION) 55,730 CHILDREN SERVED
IDEA PART B, SEC. 619 (PRESCHOOL SPECIAL EDUCATION) 47,017 CHILDREN SERVED

California: Federal and State Child Care and Early Learning Funding

Piechart California Factsheet

$1.15B  CCDBG and Mandatory Funds

$1.36B  Head Start and Early Head Start (includes AIAN HS/EHS when applicable)

$4M  PDG B-5

$26.7M  MIECHV

$58.8M  IDEA Part C

$42.2M  IDEA Part B, Sec. 619

$961.2M  TANF Early Care and Education

$0 TANF Transferred to CCDBG

STATE INVESTMENT

$3.2B  State-Funded Pre-K

$247.9M  CCDBG State Match

$1.2M  PDG B-5 State Match

ELEMENTS OF PROGRAM QUALITY

Program quality varies substantially within and across states.

Quality child care and early learning programs rely on a strong workforce, but low pay makes it difficult to recruit and retain educators. In California, child care workers earn $17.92 per hour ($37,270 annually).

Teacher-child ratios are crucial for ensuring safety, quality, and individual attention. Licensed center-based care providers participating in CCDBG are required to have the following ratios:

  • Infant 1:4
  • Toddler 1:6
  • Preschool 1:12

The state’s pre-K program met 4.4/10 of NIEER’s Quality Standards Benchmarks, which represent minimum standards to support quality preschool programs.

Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five (PDG B-5) is a competitive federal grant designed to improve states’ early childhood systems. California’s PDG B-5 accomplishments include:

  • Developed the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care: Making California for All Kids, a roadmap that was created with extensive input from stakeholders across the state.
  • Expanded equitable access to quality higher education opportunities for early childhood educators with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

CHILD AND DEPENDENT CARE TAX CREDIT (CDCTC)

The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) directly helps working parents offset the cost of child care.

In its current form, the credit only reaches a small percentage of families and has been swiftly outpaced by the escalating cost of child care as it lacks any adjustment for inflation.

Last permanently updated in 2001, the current credit averages
$500-$600 a year.

CDCTC IN CALIFORNIA BY TAX YEAR

2020

  • 530,170: Number of taxpayers claiming the CDCTC
  • $575: Average credit

2021

The CDCTC was temporarily expanded and made refundable for one year in response to the pandemic.

  • 594,680: Number of taxpayers claiming the CDCTC (an additional 64,510 from 2020)
  • $2,105: Average Credit (an additional $1,530 from 2020, on average)

TODAY

The temporary expansion expired; the CDCTC reverted back to 2001 levels.

  • $500-600: Average credit

NOTE: Major provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) expire at the end of 2025, giving Congress the opportunity to modernize the CDCTC and other tax provisions to better help working families offset the cost of quality child care.

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