1. Smaller Group Sizes Mean More Individual Attention
Family child care homes are typically much smaller than centers. On average, family child care providers care for about eight children a week, most often as the sole adult educator, and every state caps how many children — especially infants and toddlers — one provider can supervise at a time.1 That smaller ratio of children to caregiver naturally allows for more one-on-one interaction, closer supervision, and care that can be tailored to each child's pace and personality.
2. Stronger Continuity of Care Supports Secure Attachment
Because home-based providers often keep the same children over multiple years rather than shifting them between age-based classrooms, children benefit from what child development researchers call "continuity of care." NAEYC-affiliated research has found that keeping children with the same caregiver over time deepens the caregiver's understanding of each child, reduces stress caused by frequent transitions, and supports the kind of secure, trusting relationships that underlie healthy social-emotional development in the first few years of life.2
3. Siblings Can Stay Together
In many home daycare settings, brothers and sisters of different ages can be cared for in the same environment throughout the day instead of being separated into different classrooms by age, as commonly happens in center-based care.3 For families with more than one young child, this means fewer drop-off and pick-up points, more consistency in daily routines, and the comfort of siblings supporting one another in the same setting.
4. Flexible and Nontraditional Hours
Family child care homes often have more flexibility than centers to offer care during evenings, weekends, or other nonstandard hours, which can be especially valuable for parents working outside a typical 9-to-5 schedule.4 This flexibility, combined with the more personal, relationship-based nature of a home setting, is part of why family child care remains the most common form of non-parental child care in the country: nearly 3 million of the 11 million children under age 5 in child care are in a family child care setting.5
5. Often a More Affordable Option
Cost is one of the most significant factors in any child care decision, and national data consistently shows that home-based care tends to cost less than center-based care in most states.6 With child care prices continuing to rise nationally, that cost difference can make a meaningful impact on a family's budget without requiring a trade-off in the quality of attention a child receives.
Sources
NAEYC, "Excerpt from The Essentials: Providing High-Quality Family Child Care"
NAEYC, "The Many Benefits of Continuity of Care for Infants, Toddlers, Families, and Caregiving Staff"
Child Care Aware of Washington, "Child Care Aware of Washington Can Help You with Your Child Care Decisions"
Child Care Aware of America, "Are You Ready to Open a Child Care Business?"
NAEYC, "Excerpt from The Essentials: Providing High-Quality Family Child Care"
SafeWise, citing Child Care Aware of America / NACCRRA, "What Is the Difference Between Center-Based Daycare and Home-Based Care?"; Child Care Aware of America, "Child Care at a Standstill: Price and Landscape Analysis 2023"