Early childhood education participation varies substantially by age, setting, geography, and family circumstances. In the United States, 59% of children ages 3 to 5 were enrolled in school in 2022, while international data show that enrollment among 3- to 5-year-olds averaged 85% across OECD countries in 2023. The figures below describe enrollment, care arrangements, learning at home, Head Start services, and international early childhood education patterns.
Contents
- U.S. enrollment by age
- Enrollment by race and ethnicity
- Early care arrangements
- Learning activities at home
- Head Start reach and resources
- International enrollment patterns
U.S. enrollment by age
The age of a child is closely associated with school enrollment. According to School Enrollment Rates of Young Children from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), overall enrollment for 3- to 4-year-olds increased from 40% in 2021 to 47% in 2022. For 5-year-olds, the rate increased from 79% to 84% over the same period.
In 2022, 84% of 5-year-olds were enrolled in school overall, compared with 47% of 3- to 4-year-olds. Across children ages 3 to 5, 59% were enrolled in school overall. That 2022 figure followed a pandemic-era low of 53% in 2021. Before that decline, overall enrollment for 3- to 5-year-olds fluctuated between 59% and 61% from 2012 through 2019.
The 2022 overall figure includes different types of education. Among children ages 3 to 5, 39% were enrolled in public schools, while 20% were receiving a private education, including homeschool. These categories describe the setting or arrangement reported in the NCES measure and should not be treated as identical program models.
| Measure | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Overall enrollment, ages 3–4 | 40% | 47% |
| Overall enrollment, age 5 | 79% | 84% |
| Overall enrollment, ages 3–5 | 53% | 59% |
Source: School Enrollment Rates of Young Children, NCES. The 2021–2022 comparison is reported for the stated age groups.
Enrollment by race and ethnicity
NCES enrollment data also show differences among racial and ethnic groups. For 3- to 4-year-olds in 2022, the highest highlighted overall enrollment rate was 52% for Asian children. The lowest highlighted rate was 25% for Pacific Islander children.
Public-school participation also varied. Among 3- to 4-year-olds, 37% of Black children were enrolled in public school, the highest public-school rate in the subgroup figures reported here. The public-school rate for Pacific Islander 3- to 4-year-olds was 14%.
Private-school participation showed a different pattern. In 2022, 28% of Asian 3- to 4-year-olds were enrolled in private school, while 7% of American Indian or Alaska Native 3- to 4-year-olds were enrolled in private school. The latter was the lowest private-school rate in the subgroup figures provided.
Among 5-year-olds, overall enrollment rates ranged from 82% to 86% for all groups except Pacific Islander children. Pacific Islander 5-year-olds had an overall enrollment rate of 64%. Public-school enrollment was 75% for Black 5-year-olds, 77% for American Indian or Alaska Native 5-year-olds, and 72% for Hispanic 5-year-olds.
The reported private-school rates for 5-year-olds included 26% for children identified as Some other race, 24% for White children, 22% for children identified as Two or more races, and 21% for Asian children. These figures are subgroup-specific rates, so comparisons should retain both the child’s age and the type of enrollment being measured.
Early care arrangements
The NCES report Early Childhood Program Participation: 2023 examined children from birth through age 5 who were not yet in kindergarten. Its 2023 NHES ECPP sample included 7,775 children and represented approximately 20 million U.S. children in that population. The ECPP unit response rate was 88.4%, and the overall estimated weighted NHES:2023 ECPP response rate was 53.7%.
Approximately 55% of children age 5 and under who were not enrolled in kindergarten were in at least one weekly nonparental care arrangement. Among children with at least one such arrangement, 66% attended center-based care, including day care centers, Head Start, preschools, or prekindergartens. Another 34% were cared for by a relative, and 17% were cared for by a nonrelative in a private home. These categories can describe a child’s care experience and are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Parents gave varied assessments of how well arrangements covered work hours. Among children with at least one weekly nonparental arrangement, 57% of parents said it covered work hours very well, 24% said well, 14% said somewhat well, and 5% said it did not cover work hours well.
Finding care was a challenge for some families. About 11% of parents said they did not find the child care program they wanted. Among parents who had difficulty finding care or did not find their preferred program, cost was the primary reason for difficulty for 34% of children, and lack of open slots was also the primary reason for 34%. Quality was the primary reason for 12%, specific hours or schedule for 6%, and location for 5%.
Learning activities at home
Early learning also takes place through recurring activities with family members. Among children ages 3 to 5 who were not yet in kindergarten, 84% were read to by a family member three or more times in the past week, according to Early Childhood Program Participation: 2023 from NCES.
Other reported activities included singing, early academic instruction, arts and crafts, and storytelling. Seventy-four percent of these children were sung to by a family member three or more times in the past week. Sixty-seven percent were taught letters, words, or numbers at least three times. Forty-eight percent did arts and crafts with a family member at least three times, and 42% were told a story at least three times.
These percentages describe the frequency of selected activities during the reported week. They measure participation in home learning experiences, not test scores or the quality of a child’s formal early education program.
Head Start reach and resources
Head Start Program Facts for fiscal year 2024 reported that Head Start programs cumulatively served 805,919 children ages birth to 5 and pregnant women during 2023–2024. Programs spent $11,862,019,448 on Head Start, including Early Head Start–Child Care Partnerships, and another $254,336,411 on training and technical assistance. Head Start programs employed or contracted with 251,000 staff.
Staff preparation was high among Head Start Preschool center-based teachers. Ninety-four percent had an associate degree or higher in early childhood education or a related field with experience, and 56% had a bachelor’s degree.
Head Start enrollment also included children with disabilities and families facing economic or housing challenges. Children with disabilities made up 15% of cumulative enrollment. About 55,000 Head Start families experienced homelessness during the enrollment year. About 84,000 families, or 11%, received job training or adult education services.
The service setting differed between preschool and Early Head Start. About 97% of all funded Head Start Preschool services were in center-based settings. For funded Early Head Start services, about 67% were center-based and about 28% were home-based.
Health coverage was common among participating children. During 2023–2024, 96% of Head Start children had health insurance at the end of the program year, and most were enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP.
International enrollment patterns
OECD Education at a Glance 2025 reported average enrollment rates across OECD countries of 79% for 3-year-olds, 90% for 4-year-olds, and 86% for 5-year-olds in 2023. When early childhood education and care or primary education were combined for 5-year-olds, the average enrollment rate was 97%.
Across OECD countries, enrollment of children ages 3 to 5 in early childhood education reached 85% in 2023, up 5 percentage points from 2013. In more than half of OECD countries with available data, at least 90% of children ages 3 to 5 were enrolled in early childhood education.
Country patterns varied. In Costa Rica, enrollment of 3- to 5-year-olds rose from 50% in 2013 to 71% in 2023. In Poland, it rose from 71% to 94% over the same period. In Costa Rica, France, Israel, and Peru, enrollment of 4-year-olds in early childhood education or primary education equaled or exceeded 99%.
At the lower end of the reported comparison, 50% or fewer 4-year-olds were enrolled in education in Switzerland and Türkiye. Türkiye’s rate for 4-year-olds was below 50%, but its rate rose to 98% for 5-year-olds. Korea reported that 95% of 2-year-olds were enrolled in some free early childhood education and care services from birth.
OECD systems also differ structurally. Twenty-four OECD and partner countries used split early childhood education and care systems for ages 0–2 and 3–5, while 16 countries used integrated systems from birth or age 1 through primary school. These system counts help describe how services are organized; they do not by themselves measure program quality or child outcomes.