Subsidy Uptake Dashboard

This dashboard highlights the number of children in eligible families who participate in Working Connections Child Care (WCCC). In estimating eligibility, we count children in households that the Census Bureau estimates to have an income level at or below 60% of the State Median Income (SMI) and where all available parents are working. Statewide, this is about 296,000 children under the age of 13.

About 44,000 children are currently served with childcare subsidies. Statewide, we estimate the uptake of subsidies among all eligible children at about 15%. These estimates vary by age group and time. Currently, DCYF estimates about 11% of infants, 25% of toddlers, 31% of preschool-age, and 10% of school-age children in eligible households are participating in subsidized childcare. For additional information please refer to: https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/practice/oiaa/reports/early-learning-dashboards/subsidy-takeup

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Source https://data.wa.gov/resource/utij-tv86
Author DCYF Data Governance
Last Updated July 22, 2025, 20:03 (UTC)
Created July 22, 2025, 20:03 (UTC)
1. Population estimates are from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, defined as children with all available parents in the labor force and in households at or <60% State Median Income (SMI), minus children known to be participating in ECEAP or estimated to be participating in Head Start.
2. Current subsidy participation is from DCYF subsidy payment data (including Family, Friends, and Neighbor care), aged 90 days to maximize completeness.
3. Masking – Due to data confidentiality, subsidy value sizes less than 10 are left blank.
4. Data Source: DCYF Early Learning Data Store 2.0 (ELDS 2.0); January 2024 release.
Category education
Period of Time July 2024
Posting Frequency Quarterly
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harvest_source_id c4128faf-39ff-4aa3-918e-8a395702cab3
harvest_source_title washington-state