How does disability influence child care arrangements for young children? An examination using the NHES ECPP

Affordable child care is an essential support for families with young children, and quality of care impacts a range of child development outcomes. Still, many families face a number of barriers to accessing high-quality care. Given the necessary resources for raising a child with a disability, high-quality child care may be particularly salient for families with a child with a disability. Yet, these families face additional challenges to accessing appropriate care, and children with disabilities may be less likely to be receiving quality care than their nondisabled peers. Despite these challenges, little empirical work has been done to examine differences in child care arrangements between families who have a child with a disability and those who do not. Using data from the National Household Education Surveys (NHES) Early Childhood Program Participation (ECPP) surveys, this paper seeks to understand if there are differences in the types of arrangements used. Results suggest young children with disabilities are 50% more likely to be enrolled in formal, center-based care compared to no enrollment in child care and 25% less likely to be enrolled in informal care compared to center-based care than their nondisabled peers, with additional differences by household income and child's age. Findings offer a crucial first step in understanding child care arrangements for young children with disaiblities and indicate that center-based care may be particularly important for families.