Figure 1: High-need New Yorkers experience housing hardship at higher rates than non-high-need New Yorkers. (Copy) Parents’ Child Care Preferences for Each Age Group Figure 3
School-based program Child care center Non-relative (e.g.,friend, neighbor, or nanny)
Family day care/home-based program
Family member/relative Myself/other parent
5% 5% 6% 1%
100%
3%
11%
90%
15%
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38%
80%
23%
10%
13%
70%
8%
60%
16%
23%
19%
50%
6%
69%
40%
13%
19%
30%
12% 4%
20%
40%
23%
10%
13%
0%
Under Age 1
Age 1
Age 2
Age 3
Source: Survey of 4,306 parents and caregivers of children ages 0-5 living in New York City; conducted by NORC for New America’s New Practice Lab and Robin Hood, March 31-April 20, 2026. Note: All parents were asked to consider the type of child care they would most want at each given age, imagining they could design their ideal situation. Parents were presented with definitions of each type. Percentages do not total 100 at each age due to a small share of respondents skipping the question.
High-Need
It is not until age two, as shown in Figure 4, that parents’ preferences are roughly evenly divided be- tween formal child care and more informal arrangements such as a parent, relative, or nanny. At this age, more parents describe more openness to and desire for group socialization and a formal early education environment. The preference for formal settings only grows at age three, at which point school-, center-, and home-based programs are firmly preferred over informal settings. At three, school-based programs are parents’ top choice at 37 percent, consistent with the fact that parents are at that age also more likely to prioritize structured learning over free play. Not High-Need
THE 2026 NEW YORK CITY PARENT SURVEY : WHAT CHILD CARE PARENTS WANT 14
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