Many parents in Delaware, as those across the U.S., depend on access to affordable, quality child care and early education to participate in the workforce. But supply is not meeting demand for this essential service:

  • Half of child care centers in Delaware are turning families away because of staffing shortages and underinvestment.1
  • Only about half of Delaware families are sending their 3- and 4-year-olds to formal care, which can exacerbate socioeconomic differences and affect school readiness.2

Capturing responses from employers, child care providers, and working parents, the report illustrates the relationship between early child care and economic vitality and offers potential solutions. This report is the result of a partnership between the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, Rodel, and the Delaware Department of Education. The group is collaborating as part of a Research in Action Lab to elevate the importance of the early care and education (ECE) sector and increase the availability and access to ECE in Delaware.

  1. Matt Amis, State of the Delaware Child Care Industry: By the Numbers, January 2022, available at rodelde.org/by-the-numbers-child-care-crisis/.
  2. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, “Young Children Not in School in Delaware,” KIDS COUNT Data Center, 2022 (accessed February 2022).
View the Full Report