Question:
What are the most prevalent forms of child care?

Response:

In 2005, about 57 percent of children ages 3 to 5 and not yet enrolled in kindergarten were enrolled in a center-based program. Some 23 percent of 3- to 5-year-olds who were not yet enrolled in kindergarten received care from relatives and 12 percent received care from nonrelatives.

Child care arrangements of 3- to 5-year-old children who are not yet in kindergarten, by age and race/ethnicity: 2005
Characteristic	Percent in nonparental arrangements			Percent with parental care only
	Relative care	Nonrelative care	Center-based programs1
Total	22.6	11.6	57.2	26.3
Age
3 years old	24.0	14.4	42.5	33.4
4 years old	20.8	9.2	69.2	20.6
5 years old	23.8	9.9	68.7	20.4
Race/ethnicity
White	21.4	15.0	59.1	24.1
Black	25.0	5.2	66.5	19.5
Hispanic	22.6	8.1	43.4	38.0
Other	26.4	8.1	61.5	24.7

¹Center-based programs include day care centers, nursery schools, prekindergartens, preschools, and Head Start programs.

NOTE: Column percents for nonparental and parental care do not add to 100 percent because some children participated in more than one type of nonparental care arrangement. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2008). Digest of Education Statistics, 2007 (NCES 2008–022), Table 43.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 42. Number of children under 6 yrs old and not yet enrolled in kindergarten, percentage in center-based programs, avg weekly hrs in nonparental care, and percentage in var types of primary care arrangements, by sel'd child and family characteristics: 2005
  
• 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2008, Table 41. Enrollment of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children in preprimary programs, by level of program, control of program, and attendance status: Selected years, 1965 through 2006
  
• 2004, The Condition of Education 2004: Care Arrangements for Children After School
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2007, Preschool: First Findings From the Third Follow-up of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B)
  
• 2006, Age 2: Findings From the 2-Year-Old Follow-up of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B)
  
• 2006, Child Care and Early Education Arrangements of Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers: 2001
  
• 2006, Initial Results From the 2005 NHES Early Childhood Program Participation Survey
  
• 2003, Prekindergarten in U.S. Public Schools: 2000-2001
  
• 2000, America's Kindergartners