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Abstract
The importance of childcare in the well-being of families is a key boosting factor of economic prosperity, making it a fundamental public policy issue (Hamm et al., 2019) and the subject of extensive research. However, childcare is unequally distributed across social groups and within family units. Women, low-income households, and minorities disproportionally carry a heavier caregiving responsibility, deeply affecting their employment and income outcomes (Glynn, 2018). In addition, women have been the primary caregivers of children in all types of households and across socioeconomic statuses. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the disproportionate childcare burden on women, especially in low educational attainment and low-income households (Liu & Gan, 2024). To evaluate the distribution of the childcare burden across population groups and the current landscape statistics in the North Central Region (NCR), data from the NCR-Stat: Caregiving Survey (Inwood, et al., 2024) are examined.