Preschool enrollment in the United States declined substantially between 2019 and 2021. Census Bureau estimates show participation falling across ages, racial and ethnic groups, household circumstances, poverty status, and parental education levels, while a separate federal summary shows partial recovery for some younger children in 2021.
Contents
- National enrollment and the pandemic decline
- Enrollment by age
- Differences by race and ethnicity
- Family income and household circumstances
- Parents’ education and employment
- Household nativity and marital status
National enrollment and the pandemic decline
The Census Bureau’s School Enrollment in the United States: 2021 reported about 4.1 million preschool students in 2021. Preschool enrollment that year was the lowest recorded American Community Survey estimate since 2005, according to the same Census Bureau report. The Census Bureau also reported that preschool enrollment declined by more than 900,000 students from 2019 to 2021.
The percentage decline was visible in both public and private settings. Overall preschool enrollment fell from 51.1% in 2019 to 41.8% in 2021, a decrease of 9.3 percentage points. Public preschool enrollment declined from 30.5% to 24.0%, while private preschool enrollment declined from 20.6% to 17.8% over the same period. These figures describe enrollment shares, not the quality, duration, or availability of individual programs.
For broader context, 24.8% of the U.S. population age 3 and older was enrolled in school in 2021, according to the Census Bureau’s School Enrollment in the United States: 2021. That all-ages measure is not interchangeable with the preschool estimates, but it places preschool within the wider school-enrollment picture.
The federal report America’s Children 2023 gives a second view of early-childhood participation. It reported that 3- to 4-year-old enrollment was 54% in 2019, fell to 40% in 2020, and rose to 50% in 2021. For 5-year-olds, enrollment was 91% in 2019, fell to 84% in 2020, and reached 86% in 2021. The report described the change from 84% to 86% for 5-year-olds as roughly flat, with no measurable change.
Enrollment by age
The Census Bureau’s age-specific estimates show lower enrollment among younger children and a steep decline at every listed age between 2019 and 2021:
| Age | 2019 enrollment | 2021 enrollment |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 34.8% | 28.5% |
| 4 years | 60.2% | 49.0% |
| 5 years | 69.6% | 57.3% |
| 6 years | 26.1% | 20.5% |
The largest listed percentage-point decrease was among 5-year-olds, whose enrollment fell 12.3 points. Four-year-old enrollment fell 11.2 points, 3-year-old enrollment fell 6.3 points, and 6-year-old enrollment fell 5.6 points. The 6-year-old figure is included in the Census Bureau’s preschool estimate, so it should not automatically be treated as a standard kindergarten measure.
The America’s Children 2023 figures use different age groupings and therefore should be read separately. In 2021, 50% of 3- to 4-year-olds were enrolled in school, compared with 86% of 5-year-olds. The 3- to 4-year-old share was 10 points higher than in 2020 but remained 4 points below the 2019 level. The 5-year-old share was 2 points higher than in 2020 and 5 points below the 2019 level.
These measures indicate that age matters when interpreting preschool statistics. A single preschool average can conceal different participation levels among 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds, and the broader 3- to 4-year-old group.
Differences by race and ethnicity
The Census Bureau’s School Enrollment in the United States: 2021 reported declines for every listed racial and ethnic category between 2019 and 2021. White, non-Hispanic preschool enrollment fell from 53.2% to 46.0%. Black, non-Hispanic enrollment fell from 53.0% to 39.6%, and Asian, non-Hispanic enrollment fell from 56.7% to 38.1%. Enrollment for people identified as some other race fell from 52.0% to 43.4%, while Hispanic preschool enrollment fell from 44.6% to 35.0%.
The 2021 America’s Children 2023 summary provides age-specific comparisons. Among 3- to 4-year-olds, enrollment was 42% for Hispanic children, 55% for White, non-Hispanic children, and 59% for Asian, non-Hispanic children. Among 5-year-olds, enrollment was 82% for Hispanic children, 90% for Black, non-Hispanic children, 92% for Asian, non-Hispanic children, and 97% for children of two or more races who were not Hispanic.
Because these sources use different age categories, the 3- to 4-year-old and 5-year-old figures should not be combined with the Census Bureau’s all-preschool racial and ethnic percentages. They are useful for showing that both age and group definition affect the comparison.
Family income and household circumstances
Poverty status was associated with different enrollment levels in the Census Bureau’s 2019 and 2021 estimates. Preschool enrollment among children in poverty fell from 42.2% in 2019 to 32.3% in 2021. Among children not in poverty, enrollment fell from 53.1% to 44.0%.
The difference between the two groups was 10.9 percentage points in 2019 and 11.7 points in 2021. This describes a gap in enrollment shares; it does not identify the cause of the gap or indicate whether a particular child had access to a program.
Household work arrangements also showed declines. In two-parent households where both parents were working, enrollment fell from 58.6% in 2019 to 50.0% in 2021. In two-parent households with one parent working, it fell from 46.9% to 37.1%. Where neither parent was in the labor force, it fell from 41.4% to 33.3%.
For one-parent households, enrollment among children with a working parent declined from 47.8% to 38.2%. Among children in one-parent households where the parent was not in the labor force, enrollment declined from 37.6% to 30.4%.
The America’s Children 2023 report provides another 2021 comparison for 3- to 4-year-olds. Enrollment was 54% for children with two employed parents, 45% for children in two-parent households with one employed parent, 56% for children with one employed parent, and 43% for children with one unemployed parent. These categories are not identical to the Census Bureau’s household classifications, so they should be interpreted as a separate set of estimates.
Parents’ education and employment
Parental educational attainment was another major dividing line in the Census Bureau’s estimates. From 2019 to 2021, enrollment fell from 34.7% to 25.7% for children whose parents had less than a high school credential. For children whose parents had a high school credential, enrollment fell from 40.1% to 30.9%.
Among children whose parents had some college education, enrollment declined from 47.0% to 38.4%. For children whose parents had a bachelor’s degree or higher, enrollment fell from 62.2% to 51.6%.
The America’s Children 2023 data also show an education gradient in 2021. Among 3- to 4-year-olds, enrollment was 57% when parents held a bachelor’s degree or higher and 37% when parents had less than a high school credential. Among 5-year-olds, the corresponding figures were 90% and 77%.
The direction was consistent across the two age groups: the reported enrollment share was higher for children with parents holding a bachelor’s degree or higher. The size of the difference was 20 percentage points for 3- to 4-year-olds and 13 points for 5-year-olds in the 2021 America’s Children 2023 estimates.
Household nativity and marital status
The Census Bureau also reported different enrollment shares by parents’ nativity. For children with foreign-born parents, preschool enrollment fell from 50.0% in 2019 to 37.9% in 2021. For children with native-born parents, it fell from 51.7% to 43.5%.
Household marital status showed a similar two-year decline. Enrollment among children in married households fell from 53.4% in 2019 to 44.3% in 2021. Among children in not-married households, it fell from 46.5% to 36.9%.
Taken together, these statistics describe a broad disruption in U.S. preschool participation during the 2019–2021 period. The reported estimates vary by age definition and population category, and the 2021 results from the Census Bureau and America’s Children 2023 should be kept in their original measurement frameworks when comparing preschool enrollment across groups.