Childcare in Pierce County
There are nearly 147,000 children under 13 years old in Pierce County. There are approximately 95,000 children (65%) under 13 year’s old living in a home where the single-parent works or where both parents are working. The overall number of children who live in a single-parent or two-parent home where the parent or both parents are working has increased by over 6,000 since 2001. These families are the most likely to need professional childcare services. |
The median cost of childcare has increased steadily for all age-groups since 2000. Childcare in Pierce County is on average 46% more expensivein 2011 than it was in 2000 with care for infants and toddlers being the most expensive and most difficult to find. Childcare costs have risen on average 8.5% in Pierce County since 2007, while it is estimated that the median household income has fallen Pierce County. |
Since 2002, when there were 1,009 licensed childcare providers (both home-based childcare and childcare centers) Pierce County has seen a 32% decline in licensed childcare providers from 1,009 to 685. Home child care has seen a dramatic 42% loss from 750 home child care providers in 2002 to 435 in 2011. Licensed in-home childcare accounts for 64% of childcare in Pierce County. |
Source: Washington State Child Care Resource & Referral Network and US Census Bureau |
