Family Child Care is a Game Changer
3 Ways Family Child Care Fills the Gaps
The United States is facing a child care crisis—one that places parents, providers, and employers in a constant struggle. With rising costs, long waitlists, and limited availability, parents are left scrambling to find care that meets their family’s needs. But there’s one often-overlooked solution that has the potential to transform the landscape: family child care.
Family child care, also called home-based child care, providers operate small child care programs from their homes, offering a flexible, affordable, and responsive alternative to center-based care that helps fill the gaps in our child care system. Here’s how.
An Economic Driver
$122 billion. According to a recent study, that’s how much the country loses annually in earnings, productivity, and revenue as a result of the ongoing child care crisis. Equally troubling is that women who provide unpaid care to their children or adult family members can lose up to $295,000 in earnings throughout their careers. Coupled with rising child care costs, this is a massive hit to the economic mobility of individual families and the nation’s economy.
Family child care is often more cost-effective than larger child care centers, making it an accessible option for families facing financial challenges. This affordability allows more parents, especially mothers, to return to the workforce.
By enabling parents to work, family child care creates a ripple effect that strengthens the economy. With reliable care in place, families can pursue opportunities that increase their financial stability and support economic growth in their communities.
A Home Away from Home
Family child care offers several unique benefits that set it apart from larger centers. Operating from their homes, these providers are able to create warm, familiar educational settings that help children feel secure and comfortable. Smaller group sizes mean more individualized attention and learning for children. Family child care providers also often offer flexible hours, which is invaluable to parents with nontraditional work schedules. These personalized touches foster trust between families and providers and give parents peace of mind as they balance work and family life.
Cultural Connectors in the Community
Family child care providers often reflect the language, culture, and traditions of the families they serve. This connection can be especially meaningful in communities where parents are likelier to prefer child care settings that celebrate their culture and foster bilingual development. By integrating familiar customs, celebrations, and language into their care, family child care providers create nurturing environments where children feel seen and supported in their cultural identity.
A Vital Piece of the Puzzle
To be sure, a great deal of progress has been made on initiatives to address the child care crisis, but the problem is complex and won’t be solved with a one-size-fits-all approach. Family child care is a powerful but still underutilized solution that meets families where they are. By investing in and supporting family child care providers, we can expand access to affordable, high-quality child care that empowers parents, strengthens communities, and helps all children thrive.
AVANCE is committed to transforming the current landscape through quality family child care support. Our Quality Child Care Matters (QCCM) program guides and supports family child care providers as they learn strategies to increase the quality of their care, build supportive peer networks, and work toward their personal goals. The AVANCE Shared Services Alliance is a community of in-home child care educators that benefits from shared learning, access to business and other experts, and other resources needed to run a strong business.