Estimating Changes in the Supply of and Demand for Child Care in Philadelphia (2019)

In 2014, Reinvestment Fund conducted an initial analysis of the supply of and demand for child care in Philadelphia to identify areas of the city where targeted investments could help address shortages of high-quality child care. Now in its fifth update, Reinvestment Fund’s 2019 childcare analysis provides updated estimates to track the change over time in the supply of, demand for, and shortages in child care.

This report presents the results of descriptive and spatial analyses of the child care landscape in Philadelphia in 2019. It details both short- and long-term changes in the supply of, demand for, and gaps in care; the year-to-year changes from 2018 to 2019, as well as shifts since the first analyses were conducted in 2014. It is important to note that various factors could contribute to the observed changes. For example, demographic shifts can affect demand, operation cost can affect supply, and new policy initiatives and investments can directly impact gaps. To this last point, this analysis also presents the location of strategic investments made in facilities in high-gap areas through the Fund for Quality (FFQ). Subsequent updates to the childcare analysis will be conducted to assess the impact of FFQ investments on gaps between supply and demand for child care in the years ahead.