STATEWIDE FAMILY CHILD CARE PROVIDER SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

General Results

·  A total of 1,040 surveys were returned by family child care providers in New Jersey, representing 27% of all registered providers in the state

·  Response rates by county varied from 15% to 80%, with an average return rate of 30%

A Profile of New Jersey’s Family Child Care Providers

·  More than 58% of providers are between the ages of 31-50 years old

·  97% of providers are women; 7 male providers responded

·  Close to 41% of providers identified themselves as Black / African American

·  Over 24% of providers identified themselves as Latino / Hispanic

·  Spanish is spoken in 26% of provider households and with 25% of the children in care

A Community of Professionals

·  The providers who responded to the survey collectively care for more than 2,900 children on a full-time basis and 1,500 children on a part-time basis

·  The average provider begins caring for children at 7:00 am and does so until 5:45 pm

·  Over 8% of the providers have care available for children spanning a 24-hour period.

·  Almost 75% provide breakfast, lunch and daily snacks for the children in their care

·  More than 55% take children on trips outside the home

·  73% of providers responded that they would be interested in caring for up to ten children if regulations allowed them to do so with an assistant

·  Almost 65% of providers indicated that they would like to provide pre-school program services to children in their home if a state plan included them in doing so

·  In the last 6 months, just under 70% of providers participated in a child care related training

Challenges & Needs for Support

·  The lowest reported wages for full-time care were $60/week for an infant and $40/ week for a toddler, with a statewide average of about $140/week for both infants and toddlers

·  40% of providers spend up to $500 per year on supplies and equipment, and an additional 25% spend up to $1000 per year

·  More than 55% of providers are without liability insurance

·  Almost 30% of providers lack basic health insurance

·  Close to 35% of providers are the only person in their house earning income

·  40% of providers earn a pre-tax income under $14,999

·  Just under 20% of family child care providers hold a second job

New Jersey’s County Response to the Statewide Survey of Family Child Care Providers

County / Number of Registered Providers as of
December ‘04 / Spanish Surveys Returned / Total Number of Surveys Returned / Return Rate
Atlantic / 137 / 0 / 33 / 24%
Bergen / 245 / 9 / 52 / 21%
Burlington / 191 / 0 / 50 / 26%
Camden / 237 / 19 / 92 / 39%
Cape May / 15 / 0 / 12 / 80%
Cumberland / 262 / 0 / 67 / 26%
Essex / 499 / 1 / 137 / 27%
Gloucester / 92 / 0 / 29 / 32%
Hudson / 505 / 29 / 125 / 25%
Hunterdon / 54 / 0 / 19 / 35%
Mercer / 193 / 3 / 44 / 23%
Middlesex / 182 / 16 / 54 / 30%
Monmouth / 190 / 0 / 61 / 32%
Morris / 114 / 4 / 38 / 33%
Ocean / 131 / 3 / 52 / 40%
Passaic / 217 / 27 / 48 / 22%
Salem / 82 / 0 / 12 / 15%
Somerset / 86 / 0 / 17 / 20%
Sussex / 69 / 0 / 26 / 38%
Union / 206 / 13 / 50 / 24%
Warren / 76 / 0 / 22 / 29%
TOTAL / 3783 / 124 / 1040 / 30%