Childcare Landscape Study - Flipbook - Page 24
Davidson County Child Care Landscape Study Results
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The center-based analytic sample also overrepresents centers located in higher-income
communities (median household income >$152,000) compared to the full population of
licensed centers. The analytic sample size did not allow us to use multiple criteria to
calculate our weights. Therefore, to account for this representativeness issue, we conduct
post hoc sub-analyses to examine possible differences in results across income groupings for
key variables and present those where relevant. Centers were grouped according to the
median family income (MFI) of the ZCTA in which each program is located. Income
categories were defined using the 2024 median household income for the region
(approximately $76,000) and twice that amount ($152,000) to distinguish centers located in
lower-, middle-, and higher-income communities.
Differences across neighborhood income contexts were examined across workforce
measures, including educator education level, educator years of experience, educator wages,
center profitability, and center annual turnover.
Estimates of Greater Davidson County’s Child Care Supply
Estimates of child care supply in greater Davidson County were based on three survey
constructs: occupied slots, open slots, and full-day actual capacity.
Directors reported the number of children currently enrolled (or slots occupied) full-time
and part-time, as well as the number of open slots available for full-time and part-time
enrollment. To provide a consistent measure of supply across programs with different
enrollment patterns (i.e., full-time and part-time enrollment and open slots), all reported
enrollment and open-slot survey data were converted to full-day equivalent estimates. Fullday equivalent estimates serve as the baseline for all supply analyses.
Additionally, the Tennessee Child Care Licensing Data provided program-level licensed
capacity. Total licensed capacity was calculated by summing licensed capacity across all
providers to estimate the maximum number of child care slots the region is legally
authorized to serve.
Center-Based Program Analyses
Full-day equivalent occupied slot and open slot data provided by directors on the Child Care
Provider Survey (i.e., the survey sample) were used to generate estimates of child care
supply across the entire greater Davidson County region for all center-based programs (i.e.,
population-level estimates). Full-day-equivalent slots were weighted using poststratification weights based on program-size categories derived from licensed-capacity
administrative data.
Full-day equivalent capacity was calculated as the sum of weighted full-day equivalent
occupied and open slots.
Certificate Use
Child care program directors reported whether their program accepts child care certificates
and, if applicable, the number of children enrolled full-time supported by certificates.
Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center 2025
www.pn3policy.org
