WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. children are less likely to be in regular childcare in the summer than during the school year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday.
The bureau analyzed data from a survey in 2005 and 2006 for its report on childcare.
Analysts found that in the summer of 2006, more than half of young children -- 55 percent of preschoolers and 58 percent of elementary school-age children -- were not in regular childcare. They found children who are in regular childcare spend more time there in the summer.
"Who's Minding the Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Spring 2005/Summer 2006," is based on data released in 2008 from the survey of income and program participation.
About half of preschool children and half of grade-school children whose mothers work outside the home are cared for by relatives in the summer, analysts said. More than one-third of children 12 to 14, 37 percent, had no one watching over them, compared to 6 percent of children 5 to 11.
The bureau found families with working mothers and children under 15 paid an average of $6,000 per year for care. The data showed childcare was a much greater burden for low-income families without access to free childcare, who paid an average of 29 percent of their income, compared to 7 percent for families with incomes above the poverty line.
