Only 18% of subsidized child-care centers and 34% of family child-care providers in Massachusetts offer care outside standard hours, with evening, overnight, and weekend care available at less than 2% of providers, according to a new issue brief from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The study, published in 2026 by researchers Kate Giapponi Schneider and Elizabeth Wong, examined which subsidized providers offer early morning care between 4:00 and 7:00 a.m.—the nontraditional-hour period most in demand among low-income families. The research reveals a severe shortage of off-hour child care for workers in healthcare, retail, and hospitality who work outside the typical 9-to-5 schedule.
The report found that provider size and experience are strong predictors of early morning availability. Centers licensed for 155 children have a 21% probability of offering early morning care, compared to just an 11% probability for centers licensed for only 10 children. Among family child-care providers, experience matters significantly: those in their first year of business have a 25% probability of offering early morning hours, while providers who've been in business for 30 years have nearly a 44% probability. The study also found that providers located in communities with more early morning commuters have greater odds of offering nontraditional-hour care, suggesting they respond to local labor market demands.
The authors used a combination of state survey data, administrative data, and census data to identify these patterns. The report notes that "many low-income workers—including those in healthcare, retail, and hospitality—work outside the typical 9-to-5 workweek, yet affordable child care during these hours can be hard to find." While child-care subsidies help low-income families afford care, the study found that little was previously known about which kinds of subsidized providers offer nontraditional-hour care.
The findings suggest that larger centers may have more resources and staff flexibility to extend their hours into early morning periods, while smaller centers struggle to justify the operational costs for limited demand. For family child-care providers, the experience factor likely reflects both business sustainability—providers who can't meet community needs may close—and the accumulated knowledge of local demand patterns over time. The research indicates that subsidized child-care providers may be responding to the demand for early morning care within their local markets, meaning areas with more shift workers naturally develop somewhat more supply, though overall availability remains critically low even in high-demand communities.
The shortage of evening, overnight, and weekend care is particularly acute, with these hours available at less than 2% of all providers. This leaves families who work second and third shifts with almost no subsidized options, forcing them to rely on informal arrangements or forgo work opportunities. The report's findings point to a structural mismatch between when low-income workers need child care and when subsidized providers are willing or able to offer it, creating a significant barrier to employment for families who can't afford market-rate care during nontraditional hours.