PACE Study Shows Lack of Childcare Slots in California

A recent study by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), a research institute based in part at the Graduate School of Education, reveals that the state faces a widespread shortage of slots in childcare centers.

The report also documents how certain sectors of the state are particularly hard hit by this shortfall. In economic terms, the working poor and lower middle-class parents are experiencing the greatest impact, since they lack the purchasing power for private centers but are not eligible for aid to pay for preschooling.

From a regional standpoint, Los Angeles County is one area where the shortage of day care slots is especially acute. In L.A., there are licensed day care placements available for only 13% of children under five.

A decade of research has detailed the positive effects of quality preschooling on young children's early learning and school readiness. The report indicates, though, that the shortage is only worsening. "The number of children statewide is rising more rapidly than the preschool system's capacity to keep up," noted Professor Bruce Fuller, co-author of the report. Another researcher, Elizabeth Burr, concluded, "It's difficult to see how reading scores will climb in the early grades as long as access to preschooling remains so unequal across and within counties." Legislation is pending in Sacramento to expand childcare, including Delaine Eastin's push to provide universal pre-schooling for all four-year-olds.

The report is called Childcare Indicators and it is available from PACE at (510) 642-7223

Demonstration of preschool age children in San Francisco County

Bruce Fuller