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Why child care in California may get harder to find
Childcares have been losing older preschoolers which have traditionally helped subsidize younger kids.
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Elly Yu
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LAist
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Finding childcare could get even harder. Here's why:
A new report from UC Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment found child cares have been losing enrollment of their 4- and 5-year-olds. LAist's Elly Yu explains what that means for SoCal parents.
Parents could soon be headed for an even bigger child care crunch in California, experts say.
That’s because the rollout of a new grade for 4-year-olds in the state’s public schools is having unintended consequences for child care businesses, according to a new report by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley.
Child cares have historically cared for children 5 and under, but the report found they’re losing more 4- and 5-year-olds to transitional kindergarten, a universal option that was fully implemented last school year.
Sue Carrera, who runs a home daycare in Inglewood, said that before the pandemic, she had an average of 12 kids enrolled in her program. Now, she has only four — the lowest since she opened up her business in 2008 — as she’s seen children move to the public school system earlier.
“ I don't really see myself staying in this business for any lengthy period of time,” she said.
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In Los Angeles County alone, there are about 9,000 licensed early care and education providers. Here's how to get started with understanding your options. -
California is making transitional kindergarten available to all 4-year-olds. So what is it, and how do you know if it’s right for your child and your family? -
We can’t make child care cheaper, but we can help prepare you with the information to find resources and support.
The way that part of the child care business model worked was that older-age preschool children have helped subsidize the cost of caring for infants and toddlers, who are more expensive to care for, said Anna Powell, the report’s lead author.
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“ When we're tinkering with a model where there's — ‘it already kind of barely makes ends meet’ — it absolutely can cause big ripple effects and potentially lead to system-level closures,” Powell said.
Between 2019 and 2025, about 1,100 preschools have closed across California.
The report, which used a survey of thousands of child care providers, found that at child cares based at facilities, average enrollment of 4- to 5-year-olds fell by five children from 2023 to 2025. It also found that at the same time, providers haven’t been able to make an easy shift to caring for more babies. The teacher to child ratio is higher for infants (1 to 4) than for older preschoolers (1 to 12).
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The proposed changes still need to go through review, including a 60-day comment period. Providers say Head Starts are operating as usual -
Officials say the number of unhoused people in families with children countywide was down compared to the year before. But they say there's more to the story. -
More fathers than mothers are applying for paid family leave benefits to bond with a new child in California from when the program first started more than 20 years ago.
“ There's no resources to help them buy cribs that they didn't need before, and now suddenly they must have on site. There's no resources for educators who are used to, after decades, working with 4- and 5-year-olds, learning, 'How do I need to adapt my craft to work with these younger children?’” Powell said.
The study recommends California invest in the early education system in the same way it has invested in transitional kindergarten.
If more preschools close down the line, it could mean families may struggle more to find child care in an already scarce environment, said Debra Coleman, director of the L.A. County Office for the Advancement of Early Care and Education.
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In 2022, there were licensed spaces in L.A. County to be able to serve only 4% of children under 2 years old.
“If you have less options, you will have less choices of where to go. It might impact the capacity,” Coleman said. “ It might take us from a very fragile system to a fractured system.”
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
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