The Data: Early Childhood Education
High-quality early childhood care and education benefits children, families, and our economy. Rigorous longitudinal research has found that participants in high-quality child care are more likely than non-participants to:
Complete high school without suspension;
Never be addicted or arrested;
Be employed full-time or be self-employed; and
Have stable marriages and raise their children in two-parent households.
According to researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank, cost-benefit ratios from quality early childhood programs for children from low-income families “range from $4 to as high as $16 for every dollar invested.”
In addition to the long-term benefits for children, high-quality early childhood education also allows the parents of young children to participate in the workforce. However, too many Milwaukee families – especially Black and Brown families – do not have access to quality, affordable early childhood education. Click on the sections below to explore data related to early care and education in Milwaukee.
Child Care Providers in Milwaukee
Access to Child Care
Child Care Costs Locally
Child Care Workforce
Enrollment in High-Quality Care
The following data sources were used in the dashboard:
Child care providers in Milwaukee: The list of child care providers in Milwaukee was from the licensed and certified child care directories from the Department of Children and Families. Retrieved June 2023 from https://dcf.wisconsin.gov/cclicensing/lcc-directories. Latitude and longitude provided by https://www.geocod.io/.
Access to child care: The definition of child care desert and corresponding map were from the Center for American Progress; retrieved August 5, 2021 from https://childcaredeserts.org/. The number of children in Milwaukee under age 6 was from the United States Census Bureau 5-year estimate of the 2021 American Community Survey, Table B23008. The number of children that may need child care was calculated by using “Living with both parents: Both parents in workforce”, “Living with father: In labor force”, and “Living with mother: In labor force”. Retrieved February 8, 2023 from https://data.census.gov/table?g=1600000US5553000&d=ACS+5-Year+Estimates+Detailed+Tables&tid=ACSDT5Y2021.B23008. The number of available child care slots for Milwaukee is an estimate calculated using the Licensed Child Care and Certified Child Care Directories published by the Department of Children and Families. Application type was limited to “Licensed Family”, “Licensed Group”, and “Public School”. “From age” was limited to 0 to 5 years. Includes Head Start but does not include school-based community learning centers. Retrieved December 2022 from https://dcf.wisconsin.gov/cclicensing/lcc-directories.
Child care costs locally: Infant child care costs for Milwaukee were calculated using the Department of Children and Families 2022 Market Rate Survey. Special request; data not publicly available. The average weekly price per slot for age group 0-1 in group regulation type was multiplied by 52. The average household income for Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin was from the United States Census Bureau 5-year estimate of the 2021 American Community Survey, Table S1901. Retrieved February 2023 from https://data.census.gov/table?q=S1901&g=0400000US55_1600000US5553000&tid=ACSST5Y2021.S1901.
Child care workforce: Turnover and staff wages for child care is from Wisconsin's Child Care Workforce, Wisconsin Department of Children and Family Services and Wisconsin Early Childhood Association. Retrieved October 2019 from https://www.cows.org/wisconsins-child-care-workforce
Wisconsin Shares participation: Data is from a custom report from the Department of Children and Families.