Chapin Hall

Reports Explore Employment Patterns, Child Care Needs Among Low-Income Parents

Many low-income working parents rely on subsidized child care. The program supports qualifying families to work or attend school, many of whom may be unable to afford market-rate child care. Examining parents’ income and employment patterns can guide policymakers to optimally structure subsidized child care to support sustained employment and improve program engagement. This brief series focuses on the work, school, and child care engagement of Illinois families enrolled in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). 

What We Did

We analyzed the labor market participation and earnings of parents with subsidized child care cases that opened in the first quarter of 2019. We restrict analyses to households that had not participated in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) in the prior two years. We used CCAP data from the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Child Care Management System (CCMS) joined to wage data reported to the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). Additional information on data and methodology details can be found in Data Sources and Methodology.  

What We Found  

• About 1 in 5 parents (22%) using subsidized child care were employed in the health care and social assistance sector. Other common employment sectors include accommodation and food services (12%), retail trade (11%), and administrative support (11%).  
• The majority of families (85%), reported household income at or below 150% of Federal Poverty Line (FPL; $31,995 for a family of 3 in 2019) when they entered subsidized child care. Almost half of the families had income below 100% FPL and 5% of families had no income upon program entry.  
• One of five CCAP cases had at least one parent in school at the time of entry into the subsidized child care program. 
• Seven out of 10 families were still participating in subsidized child care one year after program entry. Families that continued participating in subsidized child care one year after program entry had, on average, stable or increasing earnings. Families that were no longer participating in subsidized child care after one year had, on average, lower earnings than when they entered the program.  

 What It Means 

• Many parents were employed in industries that may require evening and weekend work and schedules that change week to week. This suggests there is need for nontraditional and flexible child care hours among families utilizing subsidized child care. 
• Most families participating in subsidized child care have income well below the program eligibility threshold of 225% FPL, documenting the importance of this economic support for families for whom market rate child care would be cost prohibitive.  
• Shifts in parent earnings and family participation in subsidized child care one year after program entry may represent changes in employment (for example, losing a job) and total earnings (for example, earnings above program income limits) that impact program eligibility for some families. 

Recommended citation 

Goerge, R., Tran, T., Gjertson, L., & McQuown, D. (2024). Illinois Child Care Assistance Program Briefs. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.