Day Cares

Day Care (Child Care ) Centers 

Obtaining affordable, quality child day care, especially for children under age 5, is a major concern for many parents, particularly in recent years with the rise in families with two working parents. As the need for child day care has increased, the child day care services industry began to fill the need of non-relative child care.

Goods and services. Child day care needs are met in different ways. Care in a child's home, care in an organized child care center, and care in a provider's home—known as family child care—are all common arrangements for preschool-aged children. Older children also may receive child day care services when they are not in school, generally through before- and after-school programs or private summer school programs. The industry consists of establishments that provide paid care for infants, toddlers, preschool children, and older children in before- and after-school programs. (For information on other social assistance services for children and youths