Parenting in the United States involves daily care, paid child care decisions, work constraints, family routines, and choices about children’s learning and activities. The latest figures below describe U.S. households and children in 2023 and 2024, while the time-use figures come from 2021.
Contents
- Child care use and spending
- Child care by age, income, and family structure
- Child care problems and work
- Children’s living arrangements and family routines
- Activities, school, and learning
- Benefits and household hardship
- Time parents spend on child care
Child care use and spending
The Census child care challenges report counted 30.4 million U.S. households with at least one child aged 13 or younger in 2024. Of those households, 7.3 million used a paid child care provider. That means 23.9% of households with a child 13 or younger reported paying for child care during the year.
Among households that paid for care, average spending was about $10,520 in 2024. Paid child care spending represented an average of about 5.6% of household income. These figures describe averages among paying households, so they do not represent the cost faced by every family with children.
The age of the youngest child was associated with both the likelihood of paying and the average amount spent. Households whose youngest child was under age 6 had a 33.4% child care payment rate and spent about $12,600 on average. Households whose youngest child was age 6 to 13 spent about $5,900 on average.
| 2024 measure | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| Households with a child aged 13 or younger | 30.4 million |
| Households using paid child care | 7.3 million |
| Overall payment rate | 23.9% |
| Average spending among paying households | $10,520 |
| Average share of household income | 5.6% |
The comparison by age shows why a single national average can hide different parenting costs. Care for younger children was more commonly paid for and had a higher average cost than care for children ages 6 to 13, according to the Census child care challenges report.
Child care by age, income, and family structure
Household income was also linked to reported child care payment patterns in 2024. Households above 400% of the poverty line were 33.4% likely to pay for child care and spent about $13,400 on average. Households below the poverty line were 11.5% likely to pay and spent about $4,200 on average.
The payment rate and spending amount should be read together. A lower reported payment rate does not mean that families below the poverty line face no care needs; it means fewer households in that group reported paying for care under the measure used in the Census report. Average spending is likewise calculated for the relevant households and is not a measure of total child-related costs.
Family structure and employment status were additional points of difference. Married couple families had a 25.6% child care payment rate in 2024 and spent about $12,030 on average. Multigenerational households had a 17.1% payment rate.
Among one-adult households, those with the reference person employed had a 24.7% payment rate. The rate was 14.1% when the reference person was unemployed and 9.0% when the reference person was not in the labor force. The categories describe household circumstances in the Census child care challenges report; they do not by themselves explain why a household did or did not pay for care.
Child care problems and work
Paid care is only one part of the child care picture. In 2024, 3.7% of households with children reported child care problems that prevented more work. Households reporting child care problems lost 65.8 work days on average, according to the Census child care challenges report.
The reported work-day averages varied by household employment pattern. Two-adult households with both adults employed had a 3.2% rate of child care problems. Two-adult households with only one adult employed lost 114.4 work days on average because of child care problems.
For one-adult households, those with the reference person employed lost 44.8 work days on average because of child care problems. One-adult households with the reference person unemployed had a 10.3% child care problem rate. One-adult households with the reference person not in the labor force lost 105.5 work days on average.
| Household circumstance | Reported 2024 measure |
|---|---|
| Households with children reporting problems that prevented more work | 3.7% |
| Average work days lost among households with child care problems | 65.8 days |
| Two-adult households, both adults employed: problem rate | 3.2% |
| Two-adult households, one adult employed: average days lost | 114.4 days |
| One-adult household, reference person employed: average days lost | 44.8 days |
| One-adult household, reference person not in labor force: average days lost | 105.5 days |
These measures capture reported child care problems and associated work disruption in 2024. They are not forecasts of future employment effects, and the average days lost should not be interpreted as a typical experience for every household in a category.
Children’s living arrangements and family routines
The Census Child’s Day report counted 72.4 million children under age 18 in 2023. Of these children, 65.1% lived with married two-parent parents, 20.0% lived with mother only, 5.1% lived with father only, and 4.5% lived with a guardian. The report also found that 92% of children had a female reference parent, usually the mother.
Sibling arrangements were another part of the 2023 family picture. Some 61.0% of children lived with only biological or adopted siblings, while 23.7% had no siblings. These categories describe children’s reported household relationships and are not a measure of family closeness or parenting quality.
Daily and weekly routines were common in the measures reported for 2023. Among children under age 6, 80.5% went on two or more outings per week with their reference parent. Also, 67.4% of children under age 6 were read to by a reference parent at least five days per week.
Across children aged 0 to 17, 85.8% ate dinner with their reference parent at least five days per week. The Census Child’s Day report also provides an earlier comparison for outings: 83.3% of children went on two or more outings per week with their reference parent in 2014, 87.1% did so in 2019, and 72.8% did so in 2021. Those years should be kept distinct because the figures refer to separate measurement periods.
Activities, school, and learning
For children aged 6 to 17, the 2023 Census Child’s Day report measured participation in several organized activities. Sports were the most common of the listed individual activity categories, with 38.4% of children participating. Lessons involved 26.8%, and clubs involved 21.9%.
Only 6.8% of children aged 6 to 17 participated in all three listed categories—sports, lessons, and clubs. This combined measure is not the sum of the three individual percentages because children can participate in more than one activity.
Religious participation was also measured: 41.5% of children aged 6 to 17 attended religious activities once a month or more in 2023. In school-related measures, 19.4% were in gifted classes, and 28.3% of school-enrolled children were highly engaged in school.
The report recorded some less common but important school experiences. A total of 4.9% of children aged 6 to 17 had ever repeated a grade, while 4.7% had ever been suspended or expelled. “Ever” describes experience up to the survey measurement point; it is not a rate limited to the 2023 school year.
| 2023 measure for children aged 6–17 | Share |
|---|---|
| Played sports | 38.4% |
| Took lessons | 26.8% |
| Participated in clubs | 21.9% |
| Participated in sports, lessons, and clubs | 6.8% |
| Attended religious activities monthly or more | 41.5% |
| Were in gifted classes | 19.4% |
| School-enrolled children highly engaged in school | 28.3% |
| Had ever repeated a grade | 4.9% |
| Had ever been suspended or expelled | 4.7% |
Together, these figures show several different dimensions of children’s experiences: organized activities, community participation, classroom placement, engagement, and disciplinary history. They should not be combined into a single score of development or parenting.
Benefits and household hardship
The 2023 Census Child’s Day report also described material supports and hardships among children aged 6 to 17. Overall, 60.1% received aid from at least one listed benefit program. Medicaid covered 41.7%, while 48.2% received free or reduced-price school lunch.
Household hardship was reported for 33.1% of children aged 6 to 17. The specific hardship measures were 18.6% for food hardship, 10.4% for bill-paying hardship, and 16.5% for housing hardship.
The percentages are not mutually exclusive. A household could experience more than one type of hardship, and a child could receive more than one listed benefit. The benefit figures identify reported participation in the programs included in the Census Child’s Day report; they do not measure every form of public or private assistance.
These data place parenting routines and learning opportunities within a wider household context. Access to activities, school engagement, and family time can coexist with financial pressure, food hardship, bill-paying hardship, or housing hardship. The figures describe populations and conditions, not individual families’ decisions or abilities.
Time parents spend on child care
The Pew Mother’s Day analysis of the 2021 American Time Use Survey measured average daily child care time by parent and child age. Mothers of children under age 6 spent 7.5 hours per day on child care on average, compared with 5.3 hours for fathers of children under age 6.
For parents of older children, mothers with children ages 6 to 12 spent 5.7 hours per day on child care on average, while fathers with children ages 6 to 12 spent 4.2 hours. Mothers with teens ages 13 to 17 spent 3.8 hours per day on child care on average.
| Parent and child age group | Average child care time per day, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Mothers, children under age 6 | 7.5 hours |
| Fathers, children under age 6 | 5.3 hours |
| Mothers, children ages 6–12 | 5.7 hours |
| Fathers, children ages 6–12 | 4.2 hours |
| Mothers, teens ages 13–17 | 3.8 hours |
The time-use figures come from 2021, while the household child care, family, school, and hardship figures above come from 2023 or 2024. Keeping the measurement years visible matters: these statistics are snapshots from different periods, not a single-year portrait of every aspect of parenting.