A National Portrait of Unlisted Home-Based Child Care Providers

Publication Date: March 14, 2023
A National Portrait of Unlisted Home-Based Child Care Providers Cover Page

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Introduction

Research Questions

  1. What were unlisted HBCC providers’ demographic, educational, economic, and health and wellbeing characteristics?
  2. What were unlisted HBCC providers’ caregiving histories, motivations, and recent experiences with professional supports?
  3. How did unlisted HBCC providers spend their caregiving time, what kinds of caregiving services did they provide, and what were the characteristics of the children they served?
  4. What were the characteristics of the communities in which unlisted HBCC providers lived and usually cared for children?

In 2019, more than 5 million providers cared for one or more children either in their own home or in a child’s home. Home-based child care (HBCC) providers include listed providers, and unlisted providers who do and do not receive payment. Unlisted providers make up 94 percent of the HBCC provider workforce and serve more than 98 percent of all children who receive care in HBCC settings. HBCC is especially prevalent in communities of color, communities with high concentrations of people from immigrant backgrounds, areas of concentrated poverty, and rural communities. Yet, research on HBCC lags behind research on center-based child care and early education (CCEE), and the least is known about unlisted providers who do not appear on state or national provider lists and work outside the formal systems supporting CCEE programs. 


In this series are four analysis briefs. Together, they present a national portrait of unlisted HBCC providers from the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE), including an examination of providers’ characteristics, their backgrounds and experiences, and the communities in which they are located.
 

Purpose

This series of research briefs uses infographics to describe the characteristics and experiences of unlisted HBCC providers as well as the communities they live in at a national level and in rich detail. It examines each characteristic separately for unlisted providers who received payment to provide child care, unlisted providers who did not receive payment, and listed providers. The findings can be used to inform supports for unlisted HBCC providers, to guide outreach and engagement of HBCC providers, and to shape future research to better understand HBCC providers.

Key Findings and Highlights

Provider Demographics, Economic Wellbeing, and Health: Brief #2022-280

  • Unlisted, unpaid providers were mainly older relatives, often caring for grandchildren, and most identified as White, non-Hispanic.
  • Unlisted, paid providers were younger, were more likely to identify as Black or Hispanic/Latino/a, experienced lower levels of wealth as measured by low household income and low rates of home ownership, and had less access to health care compared to other HBCC providers.

Caregiving Histories, Motivations, and Professional Engagement: Brief #2022-281

  • Almost a quarter of unlisted, paid providers (22%) indicated that they see caring for children as related to their career and demonstrated a commitment to continue providing CCEE.
  • Fewer unlisted, unpaid providers reported participating in professional development activities relative to other HBCC providers, although some reported access to a network of other providers.

Learning Activities, Caregiving Services, and Children Served: Brief #2022-292

  • Compared to other HBCC providers, unlisted, unpaid providers tended to care for fewer children, more school-age children, and were more likely to provide care during non-standard hours (such as evening, weekday overnight, and weekend hours).
  • Unlisted, paid providers often invested considerable time in planning activities for children and on care-related activities outside of directly caring for children, such as communicating with families. Almost one-third (32%) provided care in the child’s home, and more than two-thirds (68%) reported using community spaces for physical activity and play.

The Communities Where Providers Live: Brief #2023-146

  • Compared to other HBCC providers, more unlisted, unpaid providers lived in communities that were rural, had more green space, were less walkable, and had fewer CCEE centers. On average, unlisted, unpaid providers also lived in communities with fewer immigrants, households that spoke a non-English language, and residents who were Hispanic/Latino/a.
  • Unlisted, paid providers lived in communities with greater proportions of Black, non-Hispanic residents. Unlisted, paid providers also lived in communities with the highest poverty rates, highest housing vacancy rates, lowest rates of homeownership, the least access to healthy foods, and the highest concentrations of industrial pollutants. 
  • Among unlisted providers generally, those who identified as Black, non-Hispanic more often lived in higher poverty communities posing systemic barriers to stable employment, safe housing, healthy food, and clean environments compared to those of other races and ethnicities.

Methods

The four briefs in this collection report descriptive analyses of the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) Home-Based Provider Survey, a cross-sectional survey of HBCC in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Analysis of providers’ communities also use the Child Opportunity Index 2.0, a compilation of community features associated with children’s healthy development, and the American Community Survey 2013-2017 five-year estimates produced by the United States Census Bureau.

Citation

Schochet, O., Li, A., Del Grosso, P., Aikens, N., Atkins-Burnett, S., Porter, T., & Bromer, J. (2022). A national portrait of unlisted home-based child care providers: Provider demographics, economic wellbeing, and health. OPRE Brief #2022-280. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US. Department of Health and Human Services.

Schochet, O., Li, A., Del Grosso, P., Aikens, N., Atkins-Burnett, S., Porter, T., & Bromer, J. (2022). A national portrait of unlisted home-based child care providers: Caregiving histories, motivations, and professional engagement. OPRE Brief #2022-281. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US. Department of Health and Human Services.

Schochet, O., Li, A., Del Grosso, P., Aikens, N., Atkins-Burnett, S., Porter, T., & Bromer, J. (2022). A national portrait of unlisted home-based child care providers: Learning activities, caregiving services, and children served. OPRE Brief #2022-292. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US. Department of Health and Human Services.

Schochet, O., Li, A. Del Grosso, P., Atkins-Burnett, S., Porter, T., Reid, N., and Bromer, J. (2023). A National Portrait of Unlisted Home-Based Child Care Providers: The Communities Where Providers Live. OPRE Brief #2023-146. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US. Department of Health and Human Services.

Glossary

Child care and early education (CCEE):
refers to all settings that offer care and education to young children.
Home-based child care (HBCC):
refers to any nonparental child care in the provider’s own home or the child’s home.
Listed HBCC providers:
appear on local, state, or national lists of CCEE service providers. These providers may be licensed, regulated, license-exempt, or registered.
Unlisted HBCC providers:
do not appear on local, state, or national lists of CCEE service providers but regularly care for one or more children who are not their own and do not live in the same household for five or more hours per week in an HBCC setting. Unlisted, paid providers receive payment to provide care for one or more children while unlisted; unpaid providers do not.
Types:
OPRE Research Topics: