Abstract
Finding safe and high-quality child care is critical for working parents, especially single mothers and low-wage workers of color. Despite rising demand for such care, research suggests that formal child care in the United States is in dangerously short supply — a situation that worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. While past studies have shown that the supply of formal care across neighborhoods varies by race/ethnicity and income, they often overlook the importance of geography and neighborhood type. In this study, we use California data to test whether — all else equal — child care access (i.e., child care capacity relative to the number of children under 5 in an area) is lower in outlying suburban neighborhoods with newer and less developed social infrastructure than urban neighborhoods. Notably, while the need for child care has increased in suburbs across California, funding and support from local governments has not. This study seeks to better understand and quantify geographic gaps in service, providing key recommendations for future funding allocations and government actions.
