Defining Narrow Cost Analysis

This brief has three goals: define narrow cost analysis; define and discuss child care costs and prices; explain how narrow cost analysis helps inform payment rates. This brief draws on our discussions and interviews with: Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Lead Administrators; child care researchers; experts from the Office of Child Care (OCC); an expert from the National Center on Subsidy Innovation and Accountability. We also reviewed OCC guidance, prior literature, and state examples of narrow cost analyses. We define italicized key terms in a glossary at the end of the brief.