Share of Parents Who Most Want Formal or Informal Care at Each Age

Parents were asked to select the child care option they would want to use most often in a typical week. “Formal arrangements” represents parents who stated they most want a family day care or home-based program, child care center, or school-based program. “Informal arrangements” represents those parents who selected myself/other parent, family member/relative, or non-relative (e.g., friend, neighbor, nanny). Percentages do not total 100 at each age due to a small share of respondents skipping the question.
Source: Survey of 4,306 parents and caregivers of children ages 0–5 living in New York City; conducted by NORC for New America’s New Practice Lab and Robin Hood, March 31–April 20, 2026. Chart originally published by Robin Hood and adapted with permission.