Editing Head Start (program) (section)

== Access ==
There is not enough [[Social programs in the United States|government funding]] to provide Head Start for all eligible families, so to enroll in Head Start, families must apply and then be chosen.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How to Apply {{!}} ECLKC|url=https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/how-apply|access-date=2021-05-10|website=eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov|language=en}}</ref> In 2017, there were 1 million children enrolled in Head Start and Early Head Start, but there were about 19 million children under five in the United States and around 3 million children under five living in poverty.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Hotz|first1=V. Joseph|last2=Wiswall|first2=Matthew|date=2019|title=Child Care and Child Care Policy: Existing Policies, Their Effects, and Reforms|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002716219884078|journal=The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science|volume=686|issue=1|pages=310–338|doi=10.1177/0002716219884078|s2cid=210683897 |issn=0002-7162}}</ref>

Head Start covers families living below the federal poverty line, but there 65% of children under the age of 6 having both their parents (or one parent, if they are a single parent) in the workforce.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Farquhar|first=Sarah-Eve|date=January 1989|title=Assessing New Zealand child day care quality using the early childhood environment rating scale (1)|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0300443890470105|journal=Early Child Development and Care|volume=47|issue=1|pages=93–105|doi=10.1080/0300443890470105|issn=0300-4430}}</ref> Hotz and Wiswall’s research found that for two-parent households, childcare is the most expensive [[Cost of raising a child|cost]] outside their rent or mortgage; in perspective, the median percent of income that goes towards childcare is 30%.<ref name=":0" />