Childcare deserts: the map of where America's working parents actually live

The term “childcare desert” — defined by policy researchers as any census tract where licensed childcare slots are outnumbered by children under five by a ratio of three to one or more — has been in use for nearly a decade. What has been missing is a precise map of where these deserts intersect with where working parents actually live, work, and commute.

A new dataset, compiled from anonymised mobility data covering 40 million daily trips in 12 metropolitan areas, provides that map for the first time. The picture it reveals is both more geographically specific and more economically stratified than previous research suggested.