Who pays? The visible and invisible costs of child care

Although the majority of young children now spend time in nonparental child care, we know relatively little about who provides this care and how its costs are distributed among parents, government, and other family members. In this article we use data from a survey of New York City families with children younger than six to estimate the contribution of parental expenditures, government assistance, and the market value of "donated" caregiving time by family, friends, and relatives. We conclude that uncompensated caregivers provide a substantial share of child care that is "invisible" in conventional economic measures.