ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the availability of data to address policy questions about child care for low-income families. It is common for child care policymakers to complain about the lack of good data on child care. National surveys with relevance for child care policymakers include the National Survey of America's Families and the child development supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. In terms of child care costs, it turns out that child care expenses often are the second- or third-largest item in the budget of a low-income working family. Only 30 percent of poor families with a child under fifteen and a working mother paid for child care, however. Comparable data for families with a working mother and family income at or above the poverty line indicate that 45 percent paid for care, and that expenses averaged 7 percent of family income among those who paid for care.
