Mapping
Spatial Analysis
Education

Childcare
In Brookyln

 

Spatially analyzing the distribution of childcare facilities in Brooklyn, New York, to assess where low-income working parents could use more childcare facilities. Team members include: Catharina Utami, & Inneke Rizky Rachmawati.

Context

🧸 Childcare scarcity due to the unavailability of an adequate number of licensed childcare facilities holds parents back from entering the workforce to provide for their family’s livelihood

🧸 Low-income households & households where the single-parent or both parents are part of the labor force arguably need greater support

Challenge

🖥️ Where do low-income working parents need more childcare facilities in Brooklyn, the borough with the highest proportion of children in NYC?

🖥️ How can a Service Area Analysis of childcare facilities and a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis of demographic factors be used to conduct this analysis?

Components

💾 Service Area Analysis of childcare facilities: service area coverage within a half-mile walking distance, and calculating proportions

💾 Demographic variables: proportions (by census tract) of children under 5, households earning below the median income, married households with both parents in the labor force, and single-parent households with the parent in the labor force

💾 Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis and Map Algebra

Considerations

📊 How much should each demographic variable be weighted in the map algebra?

📊 What neighborhoods have the greatest demand for childcare facilities?

outcome

 

To answer the research question, ArcGIS was used to perform a Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis using specific criteria for each census tract, including the proportions of children under five years, low-income households, single-parent households where the individual parent is part of the labor force, and two-parent households where both parents are part of the labor force.

This map showcases the proportion of children under the age of five residing in each census tract.

Here, one can see the proportion of single-parent households in each census tract with the individual parent in the labor force.

Here, we see a distinction between census tracts with a median income below the borough average and above the borough average.

This map presents the proportion of two-parent households in each tract with both parents in the labor force.

The resulting weighted decision map combines decision scores from the maps to the left to calculate the need for childcare facilities from low-income working parents in each census tract. Tracts with higher weighted scores (more orange tracts) have a greater need for childcare facilities, while tracts with negative scores have more childcare facilities available for higher-income populations, fewer children under 5 years old, and fewer working parents (both for married households and single-parent households).

In supporting the New York City government grant program that aids the financing of childcare facilities in locations with childcare scarcity, providers could utilize this map in future proposals to strengthen their argument for the need for additional childcare facilities in specific locations of their choosing.

Software used include: ArcGIS, and Adobe Illustrator.