Pennsylvania’s Child Care System: Access, Affordability, and Quality
under five years needing high-quality child care services. Yet, over half of Pennsylvania families, 57%, live in “child care deserts,” defined as areas with over three times as many children as licensed child care. 24 Additionally, families that live in rural communities, work evening and night shifts, or have infants and toddlers are likelier to find child care availability is very limited. 25
Access to High-Quality Child Care is the First Step For working families, access to high-quality child care is essential to raising a family in Pennsylvania. Most young children (68%) across the state have all available caregivers in the labor force. 23 This amounts to over 460,000 children
Child Care Providers Serving Children Under 5 by County 26
Child Care Center
Family Child Care
Group Child Care Homes
Total
Percent High- Quality Providers
Child Care Center
Family Child Care
Group Child Care Homes
Total
Percent High- Quality Providers
Pennsylvania 4,025 1,140 612 5,777 30% Adams 17 25 1 43 21% Allegheny 375 75 73 523 24% Armstrong 14 8 2 24 17% Beaver 44 8 2 54 26% Bedford 11 3 3 17 24% Berks 99 16 5 120 29% Blair 33 5 6 44 41% Bradford 16 5 2 23 48% Bucks 185 17 8 210 40% Butler 46 12 6 64 20% Cambria 41 8 10 59 27% Cameron 1 1 0 2 50% Carbon 27 1 0 28 29% Centre 41 13 2 56 43% Chester 148 16 17 181 36% Clarion 7 1 1 9 22%
Clearfield
15
15
10
40 25%
Clinton
5
2
2
9
22%
Columbia
17
4
1
22 23%
Crawford
27
6
1
34 74%
Cumberland
66
14
7
87 30%
Dauphin
107
41
12
160 29%
Delaware
199
34
34
267 27%
Elk
6
9
0
15 33%
Erie
76
37
21
134 45%
Fayette
37
2
5
44 30%
Forest
0
0
0
0
-
Franklin
27
27
7
61 10%
Fulton
2
1
0
3
67%
Greene
4
8
2
14 14%
Huntingdon
5
5
6
16 25%
Indiana
11
8
2
21 48%
Jefferson
10
3
2
15 20%
August 2023
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