child care in cook county - Illinois Action for Children

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook CountyTable V-2. Children in Cook County by Region, 2000 CensusN & NW West S & SWN & NW C & W S & SW Suburban Suburban SuburbanChildren Chicago Chicago Chicago Cook Cook CookUnder 3 Years 44,551 31,292 55,629 47,193 22,465 32,004Ages 3 through 5 39,172 30,806 59,786 49,475 24,174 35,115Ages 6 through 12 87,102 71,408 143,711 117,634 53,412 89,170Under 3, In Poverty 7,331 11,887 17,304 2,569 2,562 3,742and % in Poverty 16% 38% 31% 5% 11% 12%Ages 3-5, In Poverty 6,729 12,142 18,686 2,676 2,886 4,211and % in Poverty 17% 39% 31% 5% 12% 12%Ages 6-12, In Poverty 15,682 27,800 44,595 6,475 5,671 10,722and % in Poverty 18% 39% 31% 6% 11% 12%Under 3, Income Eligible 17,870 20,173 31,414 8,253 7,135 9,113& % Eligible* 40% 64% 56% 17% 32% 28%Ages 3-5, Income Eligible 16,670 20,311 33,843 8,649 7,818 10,153& % Eligible* 43% 66% 57% 17% 32% 29%Ages 6-12, Income Eligible 38,408 47,987 80,562 20,089 16,406 24,704& % Eligible* 44% 67% 56% 17% 31% 28%* Income-eligible for CCAP. The income limit is 200% of the federal poverty level based on family size. The work requirement for CCAP is not factored in here.Ages of children both in poverty and income-eligible are calculated from the proportions of all children in different age groups.Chicago. The southern and westernparts of suburban Cook County alsohave more poverty and more familieseligible CCAP than the county’sNorth and Northwest regions. 17As much as 39 percent of childrenliving in a Cook County region areliving below the poverty line. Withrespect to incomes that make familieseligible for CCAP, as little as 17percent and as much as 67 percentof children in different age groupslive in families eligible for CCAP.B.CHILDREN WITHWORKING PARENTSPublic policy often supports workingfamilies in particular in terms of childcare. To estimate the demand forchild care in a region such as CookCounty, researchers often start withthe number of families with everyparent working outside of the homeand ignore families with at least oneparent not in the labor force. Thisapproach neglects the fact thatsubstantial numbers of parents whoare not in the labor force still seekchild care in order to attend schoolor for other reasons such as disabilityor illness. This also assumes thatall families with every parent in thelabor force must turn to externalsources for child care, neglectingthe fact that families might haveother relatives available to care forthe children and that many parentsstagger their work schedules so oneparent is always available to providecare. It is important to keep thesecomplexities in mind when reviewingthe data that follow on families withall present parents working.Of the approximately 472,000 childrenunder age six in Cook Countyin 2000, about 50 percent, or238,000 children, lived in familiesin which all parents present in thehome were in the labor force. Thismeans either the single parent in asingle-parent family or both parentsin a two-parent family were in thelabor force. 18 The percentage ofchildren in families with all workingparents in suburban Cook Countyis 56 percent while in Chicago it is53 percent. Table V-3 presents thenumber of such children in the sixregions of Cook County.26