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Who is missing work due to childcare issues?

A record number of workers are missing work due to childcare issues. What does it really mean?

Nearly three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, working parents are still struggling with a lack of childcare. According to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, around 104,000 Americans in October 2022 reported childcare problems as their main reason for missing work the previous week. Here are the workers hardest hit by childcare problems.

The number of people missing work for childcare reasons peaked at 104,000 in October 2022. It fell to 59,000 in November.

Absent for childcare reasons

/0k25k50k75k100k20002005201020152020

Absent for childcare reasons

February 2022

Total Parents

44,000

2000 2004 2009 2014 2019

Do men or women miss work more often due to lack of childcare?

While both men and women report work absences due to childcare issues, women accounted for 82% of all childcare-related absences in November 2022. (The detailed data is noisy, so these charts display 12-month moving averages.) This data shows that women have consistently been a much larger proportion of work absences due to lack of childcare. Between January 2000 and November 2022, women accounted for 85% of all childcare absences reported by parents.

Mothers are more than four times as likely as fathers to miss work due to childcare.

All parents

Male

Female

/Childcare absences per 100K010020020002005201020152020

Childcare absences per 100K

Average for 12 months ending in Jul 2022

Female

112 per 100K

All parents

76 per 100K

Male

32 per 100K

2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

This chart shows 12-month moving averages.

Are parents of younger children more impacted by childcare issues?

Childcare needs are greater for families with children under the age of 5 — and especially for those with children younger than 2. Parents with children under 5 are about twice as likely to miss work for childcare reasons as people with older kids.

Parents of young kids are the most likely to miss work for childcare reasons.

All parents

Parents with children 5 or under

Parents with children over 5

/Childcare absences per 100K010020020002005201020152020

Childcare absences per 100K

Average for 12 months ending in Jul 2022

Parents with children 5 or under

131 per 100K

All parents

76 per 100K

Parents with children over 5

34 per 100K

2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

This chart shows 12-month moving averages.

Do parents with multiple children miss more work than parents with one child?

For most of the last 20 years, parents with one child have had childcare-related absences at about the same rate as parents with multiple children. But in October and November, childcare issues caused parents of multiple children to miss work at higher rates.

Parents with multiple children have recently been more likely to miss work due to childcare.

All parents

Parents with 1 child

Parents with 2+ children

/Childcare absences per 100K05010020002005201020152020

Childcare absences per 100K

Average for 12 months ending in Jul 2022

Parents with 2+ children

80 per 100K

All parents

76 per 100K

Parents with 1 child

70 per 100K

2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

This chart shows 12-month moving averages.

Do parents with college degrees miss more work than parents without?

Before the pandemic, there was little difference between college graduates and those who did not complete college in terms of who is more likely to be absent due to childcare.

Parents who did not finish college and college graduates missed work for childcare reasons at similar rates until the pandemic.

All parents

College degree

No college degree

/Childcare absences per 100K05010020002005201020152020

Childcare absences per 100K

Average for 12 months ending in Jul 2022

No college degree

98 per 100K

All parents

76 per 100K

College degree

45 per 100K

2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

This chart shows 12-month moving averages.

How common are work absences related to childcare?

While childcare-related absences are higher than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, they remain uncommon: about 1 in 700 parents were absent from a full workweek in October 2022. People were much more likely to miss work for vacation or illness.

Parents are much more likely to say they missed work because of their own illnesses than because of childcare problems.

Own illness

Childcare

/Absences per 100K09501,90020002005201020152020

Absences per 100K

Aug 2022

Own illness

720 per 100K

Childcare

79 per 100K

2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

How many parents are employed?

The higher percentages of parents missing work this winter also mask another trend: 80% of parents with children under 18 are working. Only four other months in the last 22 years had higher parental employment rates.

Slightly more than 80% of parents were employed in November 2022.

Parents

Everyone age 16-64

/Percent employed0408020002005201020152020

Percent employed

Aug 2022

Parents

80%

Everyone age 16-64

72%

2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

For more information on this issue, check out how childcare costs have grown for families, how the government supports childcare, and how several metrics of childcare and wellbeing have changed over time

Sources & Footnotes