Overall, 92 percent of parents in NYC with young children either prefer or are open to utilizing formal child care at some point from infancy to age three. 16 But only 15 percent identify formal care as their preferred arrangement at every age, underscoring that most parents want access to different forms of care, including familial and other, informal arrangements, during the infant and toddler years. Demand for formal settings is uneven across the city. The share of parents who prefer formal child care at each age can give an indication of potential de- mand for these settings across early childhood, including the share of parents who would be likely to participate in 2-K when fully phased in. Citywide figures, however, can obscure meaningful differences across neighborhoods. Because the Mamdani Administration plans to roll out 2-K by adding seats in individual school districts over time, NORC also developed small area estimates at the school district level for select survey responses. These estimates offer a window into the approximate need for li- censed seats in each district (See Appendix I for further details on methods). The findings demonstrate that preferences for formal settings vary significantly across the city. On average, school- or center-based care is a more popular top choice among parents in high income dis- tricts in neighboring parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan (Brooklyn Heights, Greenpoint/Williamsburg, the Financial District, and the Upper East Side) than in the Bronx or Southeast Queens. For two-year- olds, the share of parents preferring school- or center-based care ranges from just 18 percent in Bronx School District 10 (Fordham, Riverdale) to 52 percent in Brooklyn School District 14 (Williamsburg, Greenpoint). Demand for home-based care is lower than demand for centers and schools, and more mixed geographically, with pockets of Queens and Brooklyn claiming the highest demand among all districts. Combined, the share of parents preferring formal settings at age two ranges from 33 percent in Brooklyn School District 19 (East New York) to 69 percent in Brooklyn School District 32 (Bushwick). Among the five districts in which the first 2-K seats are being offered — 6, 10, 18, 23, and 27 — the per- centages of parents who want a formal seat at age two fall in the bottom half of districts, ranging be- tween 33 percent in District 10 (Fordham, Riverdale) to 45 percent in District 6 (Washington Heights). 17
16 Parents are considered to be open to utilizing formal child care if they most want informal care but note that they would be very or extremely likely to use formal care if this arrangement was offered to them at no cost. Parents are considered to prefer formal care if it is either their top choice, or chosen as a part of their preferred combination. 17 The five districts in which the first 2-K seats are available are: District 6 — Inwood, Washington Heights (Manhattan), District 10 — Riverdale, Bedford Park, Norwood (Bronx), District 18 — Canarsie, East Flatbush (Brooklyn), District 23 — Brownsville, Ocean Hill (Brooklyn), and District 27 — Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, Howard Beach, South Ozone Park (Queens).
THE 2026 NEW YORK CITY PARENT SURVEY : WHAT CHILD CARE PARENTS WANT 17
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