Accessing reliable and affordable child care may sometimes be a challenge for rural working families. The number of skilled and available child care providers in rural areas is more limited than in urban communities, and child care centers are widely scattered, thus center-based care is typically not an option. Many residents rely on informal arrangements with family and friends.
Although these child care arrangements are less expensive and more flexible, caregivers are generally not licensed and may lack formal training. Family and friends may also have limited access to available resources and supports that can help in their efforts to provide child care assistance. Local social service agencies can address these concerns by helping providers become licensed and by building a training infrastructure that includes basic training on child safety and development.
Related Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Maps & Map Collections
Child Care Providers
Interactive
Geographic coverage: United States
Printable map that shows the number of child care providers per 100 children under age 5 nationwide by state. Data source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Child Care and Development Fund, 2003.
Date: 2003
Children Receiving Child Care
Interactive
Geographic coverage: United States
Printable map that shows the percent of children under age 5 receiving day care nationwide by state. Data source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Child Care and Development Fund, 2003.
Date: 2003
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
Employment Rates Higher Among Rural Mothers than Urban Mothers
Author(s): Kristin Smith
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Describes that rural mothers with children under age six have higher employment rates than their urban counterparts, but have higher poverty rates, lower wages, and lower family income, placing rural mothers and their children in a more economically vulnerable situation than urban mothers.
Date: 2007
Head Start in Rural Communities
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
Includes a chapter from the 2007 Report to the Secretary: Rural Health and Human Service Issues. Discusses Head Start, a comprehensive early childhood development program, and the challenges that face rural Head Start programs.
Date: 01 / 2007
Kids Count Data Book, 2010
Sponsoring organization: Annie E. Casey Foundation
Provides national and state-by-state information and statistical trends on the conditions of America’s children and families. Includes graphs, maps, ranked lists, and state-by-state profiles.
Date: 2010
Low Income and Impoverished Families Pay More Disproportionately for Child Care
Author(s): Kristin Smith, Kristi Gozjolko
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Reports that working families with young children living in poverty pay 32 percent of their income on child care, nearly five times more than families living at more than 200 percent of the poverty level. Reports that rural and urban families spend a similar proportion of their
family income on child care.
Date: 2010
Low Wages Prevalent in Direct Care and Child Care Workforce
Author(s): Kristin Smith, Reagan Baughman
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Discusses issues of direct care workers and child care workers. Direct care workers take care of people with chronic illnesses or disabilities. Discusses the hourly wages and lack of health insurance among these workers.
Date: 2007
Rural Families Choose Home-Based Child Care
Author(s): Kristin Smith
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Rural Poverty Research Center
Reports on the child care options available to rural families. Discusses the potential impact of reliance on informal daycare for rural children.
Journal citation: Perspectives: On Poverty, Policy, and Place Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages: 2-4
Date: 2007
Rural Families Choose Home-Based Child Care for their Preschool-Aged Children
Author(s): Kristin Smith
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Discusses child care options for rural families. Rural employed mothers rely more on
informal non-related care providers than
urban employed mothers.
Date: 2006
What Congregations Should Know about Federal Funding for Child Care
Sponsoring organization: Administration for Children and Families
Explains the child care voucher system for low-income families, and how to participate in the voucher program as a child care provider by providing services to eligible families.
Date: 10 / 2010
Organizations
Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
Federal government
Funds state, local, and tribal organizations to provide family assistance (welfare), child support, child care, Head Start, child welfare, and other programs relating to children and families. Operates the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF). It is part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
Alliance on Early Childhood Finance
Nonprofit/Foundation
Dedicated to seeking more rational financing of early care and education.
American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
National organization
Works to educate members of Congress, the media, and the broader public on what is happening in the states regarding welfare, child welfare, health care reform, and other issues involving families and the elderly.
Center for the Child Care Workforce (CCW)
National organization
Works to improve the quality of child care services by upgrading the wages, benefits, training opportunities and working conditions for child care teachers and family child care providers.
Child Care Technical Assistance Network (CCTAN)
Federal government
Provides resources on child care, afterschool programs and early education research.
Finance Project (TFP)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Works to support decision making that produces and sustains good results for families, children and communities. Develops and disseminates information, knowledge, tools and technical assistance for improved policies, programs, and financing strategies.
National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA)
National organization
Works to provide vision, leadership, and support to community child care resource and referral and to promote national policies and partnerships committed to the development and learning of all children.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Federal government
Works to ensure that every person is born healthy and wanted, that women suffer no harmful effects from the reproductive process, and that all children have the chance to fulfill their potential for a healthy and productive life, free of disease or disability. Part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' National Institutes of Health.
National Network for Child Care (NNCC)
National organization
Works to share knowledge about children and child care from the resources of the land-grant universities with parents, professionals, practitioners, and the general public.
Office of Child Care
Federal government
Enhances the quality, affordability, and availability of child care for all families. Administers federal funds to states, territories, and tribes to assist low-income families in accessing quality child care for children when the parents work or participate in education or training.
Zero to Three
Nonprofit/Foundation
Works to promote the healthy development of infants and toddlers by supporting and strengthening families, communities, and those who work on their behalf. Provides training, technical assistance and leadership development.
Terms & Acronyms
Accreditation (for child care) A process through which child care programs voluntarily meet specific standards to receive endorsement from a professional agency, such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children or the National Association for Family Day Care.
Capacity (child care) The total number of children that may be in care at any one time in a particular program.
Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) The CCDBG is administered by the department of Health and Human Services and provides allotments to states, according to a formula, which are used to subsidize the child care expenses of low-income families with children under age 13. The block grant serves children in families earning less than 85 percent of their state's median income, unless a higher qualifying level has been set by the state. The block grant was created after the passage of welfare reform in 1996, which consolidated several child care subsidy programs into a single, integrated system known as the Child Care Development Fund.
Early Childhood Children from birth to age eight.
Infant A child from birth to 12 months in age.
Kith and Kin Informal child care provided by friends and neighbors or by family members.
Minimum Standards (child care) The minimum requirements of states to protect the health and safety of children in day care.
Mixed-Age Grouping The practice of placing children who are at least one year apart in age into the same child care group.
OST (Out of School Time) Generally refers to programs designed to serve school-aged children of working families during the hours they are not in the classroom.
Preschoolers Children between the ages of three to five years.
Public-Private Partnership A public-private partnership exists when the public sector (federal, tribal, state, and/or local officials and agencies) joins with the private sector (employers, philanthropies, media, civic groups, families, and service providers) in pursuit of a common goal. In the case of public-private partnerships for child care, partnerships typically focus on new ways to expand and improve the capacity of a state or locality to meet the needs of young children and their families.
Staff-to-child Ratio A ratio that represents the number of children per qualified caregiver in a child care program. For instance, Alabama requires at least one qualified caregiver for every six infants, or a 1:6 staff-to-child ratio.
State Lead Agency (CCDF) The State Lead Agency under the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is designated by a state or territory to administer and/or implement, and maintain overall responsibility of child care programs. The agencies also serve as a contact for all child care issues.
Toddler A child from 13 to 36 months in age.
Article Searches & Bibliographies
RAC Documents Search: Child Care
PubMed Search: Child Care and Rural Populations
Searches PubMed's collection of journal article citations with abstracts for items related to this topic and published in the United States.
Some citations link to the full text of articles through PubMed Central, through your library’s electronic and print holdings, or through the journal's publisher. The first two provide free access; the latter may require payment. Check with your local library for details or call your Regional Medical Library at 800.338.7657.
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