Connecticut RAPID Survey 1:

Who Reponded to the Survey?

Key Findings:

• Responses were received from 1,803 primary caregivers of children under 6 years old residing in 149 towns across Connecticut.

• RAPID Survey 1 respondents have a lower median household income relative to families with young children statewide.

• About half of survey respondents were income-eligible for Care 4 Kids subsidies.

Child Care Access

Key Findings:

• Lower-income families were less likely to utilize child care. Only thirty-nine percent (39%) of families with household incomes below 30% of the State Median Income (SMI) - $39,955 for a family of four in 2024 - reported that any of their young children had received non-parental care in the past month.

• Half (50%) of respondents who had looked for child care reported having difficulty finding a spot in a child care program in the past year.

• Sixty-nine percent (69%) of parents of children with disabilities reported having difficulty finding a child care provider who could meet the needs of their child with a disability.

• The top reason for not using child care was that child care is too expensive.

Child Care Affordability & Access to Subsidies

Key Findings:

• Sixty-four percent (64%) of parents reported spending more than 7% of their household income on child care for their young children.

• Twenty-four percent (24%) of families reported that their current child care arrangement is not affordable for their family.

• Only thirty-four percent (34%) of families that were income-eligible for Care 4 Kids subsidies reported currently using Care 4 Kids subsidies.

Child Care Preferences & Satisfaction

Key Findings:

• Seventy-eight percent (78%) of families reported that a child care center, Head Start, or state-funded pre-K would be an ideal child care arrangement.

• Nearly half (49%) of families reported that they would ideally like full-time child care.

• Only sixty-eight percent (68%) of families with incomes below 30% SMI ($39,955 for a family of four in 2024) reported that their current child care arrangement works well with their work schedule, compared to eighty-five percent (85%) of families with incomes greater than 85% SMI ($113,206 for a family of four).

View this interactive dashboard to explore key findings from the Connecticut RAPID Survey 1 broken out by:

• Respondents’ race and ethnicity, household income level, whether the respondent was born in the United States, and whether they have a child with a disability.

• Connecticut’s nine Planning Regions.

• Connecticut’s eight counties.

• Eighty-seven percent (87%) of families in Connecticut would need to spend more than 7% of their household income to pay the market rate for full-time, year-round care in a child care center for all of their young children.

• Even among families with incomes between 100% and 149% of the State Median Income, half would need to pay more than 13% of their household income to enroll all of their children in market-rate child care.

• Among single-parent working families, the median percent of household income needed to afford market-rate care is 25%.

• Only within the Western Central PUMA, which includes some of Connecticut’s wealthiest towns (Darien, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, and Wilton), could half of families afford market-rate care for at most 7% of their household income.