Report Claims Child-Care Workers Have Been Largely 'Undercounted'

By Linda Jacobson

President Bush says he wants to improve the skills of preschool teachers and child-care providers, but he may be underestimating how many need to be trained, suggests a new report.

There are 2.3 million people, including more than 800,000 paid relatives, caring for children other than their own from birth to 5 years old, the study found. That number is higher than estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics, which range from 700,000 to 1.7 million caregivers for...