This week, the Center for American Progress’ Early Childhood team unveiled two significant resources: the annual update to the Child Care and Early Learning Data Dashboard and a comprehensive report titled “A 2024 Review of Child Care and Early Learning in the United States.”
These resources present new data on child care and early learning across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, covering the period from 2015 to 2024. The interactive dashboard allows users to delve into various categories, including:
Cost of Child Care
Child Care Access and Supply
Wage and Employment Data of Child Care Workers
The latest update introduces new data points on existing variables and adds new variables that provide historical and current data on:
Average hourly wages for Early Head Start and Head Start educators
Young children experiencing homelessness
Head Start program access for young children experiencing homelessness
These data underscore the urgent need for comprehensive public policies and substantial investments to support young children, families, and early educators. Nearly 70 percent of children under age 6 in the United States have all available parents in the workforce, making child care and early learning programs essential for both early development and family economic security.

The report highlights the ongoing struggles families face in finding and affording high-quality child care, as well as the undercompensation of early educators, who are predominantly women of color. These challenges contribute to high turnover rates and workforce shortages, limiting children's access to quality early learning opportunities.
Read the report and explore the data for your state.