Report - May 16, 2024
Harris Williams & EY-Parthenon Joint Report
The early childhood care and education (ECE) and youth enrichment markets are large, growing, and highly fragmented, offering a unique opportunity to invest in essential services seeing strong demand.
The ECE market has seen steady growth over the past two decades, driven by resilient demand from families seeking the benefits of organized education and care for children under five. Only 30% of children are enrolled in organized care, and scaled providers are critical to meeting that unmet need.i
ECE is an $18 billion market, supported by +6% growth in child care spendingii
Spending on ECE is steady and resilient, even in tougher economic environments
Scaled providers are uniquely positioned to continue meeting parent needs and driving care availability throughout the country
For its part, the youth enrichment market is receiving significant attention from investors as parents increase spending on dedicated offerings to combat developmental losses, help their children gain important foundational skills, and develop lifelong passions earlier on. This report focuses on sports programs and leagues, non-school-based afterschool enrichment, enrichment tutoring, and remedial tutoring.
Spending on youth enrichment is expected to grow, and demand outstrips supply
Most businesses are below $10 million in EBITDA, creating plentiful growth opportunitiesiii
The subsector has ~$10 billion – $12 billion in whitespace within the highest income family-spend segment, with additional opportunity within other subsegmentsiv
In this new report, we provide details on the key trends supporting this opportunity. Please contact us at ConsumerInsights@HarrisWilliams.com to request a copy.