The Validity of Child-Care Market-Rate Surveys By Arthur Emlen for the Advisory Committee States that provide child-care assistance survey the market every two years to learn the prices providers are charging for care in centers and family homes. The market-rate survey calculates the frequency and range of prices charged for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children. To measure the range of rates, specific rates are reported at key percentiles such as at the 25 th , 50 th (median), and 75 th percentiles, and even at the 90 th to identify the point at which only ten percent are more expensive. The federal government requires this survey because presumably it will provide guidance, helpful but not determining, in setting the amount states will pay in subsidizing care for low-income families. The policy is intended to peg child-care assistance at a level of subsidy high enough so that assisted parents can have wide access to child care in their own community. Federal policy speaks of providing “equal access” to the child-care market. Easier said than done. Since quite a range of rates is found across a state and within each community as well, a market survey is needed to report that variation and to estimate where the subsidy succeeds in positioning these parents in relation to prevailing community rates.

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