Research Reports

Cost of Quality Early Learning Think Tank

Illinois Action for Children (IAFC) and The Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) partnered to design and conduct the Cost of Quality Think Tank. Held May 16-17, 2018, in Chicago, the convening provided an opportunity for state and local leaders, advocates, and national experts engaged in cost studies of early learning programs to take stock of what they are learning about collecting, analyzing, and using cost data to inform and drive policy decisions about financing high-quality early learning programs. Highlights from the meeting, a summary of key findings, unanswered questions, and suggestions for next steps are provided in this document.

Cost of Child Care in Cook County in 2018

Child care is one of a family’s largest expenses. The amount that Cook County families pay for child care varies by region, care setting and the age of their children. On average it costs more than what many families pay for food, transportation or rent. Infant care in a child care center can cost more than sending a young adult to college. While the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) helps some lower-income families offset these costs, middle income families must bear the full cost burden.
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Cook County Parents, Nonstandard Work and Child Care Research Brief

New research on the Child Care Assistance Program finds that almost half of Cook County parents with Assistance work nontraditional hours (evenings, nights and/or weekends). Few of these parents, moreover, use licensed child care.

2016 Cook County Parents, Nonstandard Work and Child Care

The Economic Impact of the Early Care and Education Industry in Illinois Research Brief

How the early care and education industry contributes to the Illinois economy.

Choices in the Real World: The use of family, friend and neighbor child care by single Chicago mothers working nontraditional schedules (2013)

Fifty single mothers tell us how they provide for their young children’s care while they are working nontraditional schedules and how these choices impact their and their children’s well-being.

Illinois Action for Children’s Trainings on Nutritional and Physical Activity Standards in Child Care Settings and How Child Care Providers Perceive and Practice the New Standards (2012)

Child care providers reflect on the role they can play in helping children form good exercise and eating habits.

Getting There: Cook County Parents’ Commute to Child Care and Work (2012)

The locations of child care in relation to parents’ homes and workplaces, how these distances vary by community, and what factors may account for these variations.

Child Care and Early Education in Illinois: The Choices Parents Make (2008)

How family size, education level, income, and language relate to the choices families make, based on the Illinois sample of the 2004 National Survey of Children’s Health.

Working Later in Illinois: Work Schedules, Incomes and Access to Child Care (2006)

The relationship between nonstandard work schedules, income and child care for Illinois families based on the most recent federal data (the 2004 Current Population Survey) .

Why Have Illinois Child Care Centers Closed? (2007; published in 2011)

The reasons for many of 610 child care center closings in Illinois between 1999 and 2003.