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Child Care Scholarship Program Briefing 02.04.2026 22 Key Policies What is the Market Rate? What Is a Market Rate Survey? • The Market Rate is measure of what child care providers are charging for child care. • It is a measure of what families are willing to pay for child care. • It is not a measure of the true cost of providing child care. • States are required by the CCDF Final Rule to ensure that families receiving child care assistance have equal access to comparable care purchased by private-paying parents. A market rate survey (MRS) is a tool States use to achieve this program objective. • A MRS is a study of the prices or fees child care programs typically charge, and families typically pay for a given type of child care based on: • Setting (e.g., center-based child care programs or family/home-based child care programs, etc.) • Age group (e.g., infants and toddler, school age, etc.) • Unit of care (e.g., per week, full-day, half-day, or hour, etc.) Office of Child Care, Child Care Technical Assistance Network, Institute for Social Research, Bipartisan Policy Center