Significant Declines in Preschool Enrollment During COVID-19 Pandemic

The percentage of 3-to-6-year-olds enrolled in preschool in the United States dropped by 9.3 percentage points from 2019 to 2021, from 51.1% to 41.8%, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report. 

The drop in preschool enrollment was felt across the nation. From 2019 to 2021, 42 states and the District of Columbia had statistically significant declines in preschool enrollment. Eight experienced no significant change (Figure 2).

Declines in preschool enrollment varied across race and Hispanic origin groups (Figure 3):

• The share of children who were Asian alone (non-Hispanic) enrolled in preschool declined from 56.7% in 2019 to 38.1% in 2021, an 18.6-point drop and the largest of any other group. This was an especially significant shift since Asian preschool enrollment was the highest of any racial or ethnic group in 2019.
  
  
• Black (non-Hispanic) children had a slightly smaller decline in the same period, from 53.0% to 39.6% (down 13.4 points).
  
  
• Enrollment for White (non-Hispanic) children declined from 53.2% to 46.0% (down 7.2 points).
  
  
• Some Other Race (includes those identifying as American Indians and Alaskan Natives, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders, Two or More Races and any other race not specified in the table) declined from 52.0% to 43.4% (down 8.6 points).
  
  
• Hispanic or Latino preschool enrollment went from 44.6% to 35.0% (down 9.6 points).  

Preschool enrollment declined for all families (between 7.2 and 9.8 percentage points) but varied by family structure and parental work status (Figure 4):

• The percentage of children enrolled in preschool and living with two working parents declined from 58.6% to 50.0% (down 8.6 points), the highest enrollment rate of any group in Figure 3 in either year. Even with the declines, the 2021 preschool enrollment rate for households with both parents working was higher than any of the 2019 rates for the other groups.
  
  
• Children living in a one parent household with a working parent had the next highest enrollment rate in 2019 and 2021 but that rate declined as well, from 47.8% in 2019 to 38.2% in 2021 (down 9.6 points).
  
  
• Preschool enrollment rates for the next largest group — children living in two parent households with one parent working — declined from 46.9% to 37.1% (down 9.8 points).
  
  
• Enrollment for children living with both parents, neither of whom was in the labor force, declined from 41.4% to 33.3% (down 8.1 points).
  
  
• Children living with one parent who was not in the labor force declined from 37.6% to 30.4% (down 7.2 points).