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Under age 5
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Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children

Child Care Subsidy - Enrollment in provider meeting high-quality standards in Pennsylvania

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Why This Indicator Matters

Nearly 205,000 children under age 5 need subsidized child care so their parents can reliably participate in the workforce and financially support their families. Child care provides not only peace of mind to working parents but an opportunity for young children to develop, grow and learn. Research indicates that access to high-quality child care increases the likelihood that children enter school ready to succeed and their parents remain employed.

Want to learn more about child care in your community? Go to PPC's Child Care Map to find information about the need for child care and the opportunity children, including those who are eligible for Child Care Works, have in your county, state House or state Senate district. You can also learn more about local providers and print local fact sheets.
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Data Provided By

Definitions: Child care subsidies are available to low-income working families to increase the opportunity for parents to obtain high-quality child care for their children while they work.

High-quality is defined as those regulated child care providers with Keystone STAR 3 or 4 designation or certified by a Pennsylvania state government-recognized accreditation. The deciding PA state government agency is the Office of Child Development and Early Learning within the Departments of Education and Human Services.

Child care providers serving only school-age children were removed from the analysis.

Data Source: Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children's analysis of data provided by the PA Departments of Education and Human Services, Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL).

Footnotes: NA = Not Available.

Starting in October 2018, OCDEL did not provide data for counts less than 11. In those cases, the percent of children in high-quality could not be calculated.

Updated December 2020.