Introduction
The National Study of Child Care for Low-Income Families, conducted for the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was a 10-year effort in 17 states and 25 communities to provide information on the response of states and communities to the child care needs of low-income families, on the employment and child care choices made by low-income families and on the factors that influence those choices. In addition, the study focused on the family child care arrangements of low-income families and the experiences of children in this type of care. The study was conducted by Abt Associates Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.
The State and Community Substudy is one of the three components of the National Study of Child Care for Low-Income Families. The study was designed to examine how states and communities formulate and implement policies and programs to meet the child care needs of families moving from welfare to work and other low-income parents; how these policies change over time; and how these policies, as well as other factors, affect the type, amount, and cost of care in communities.