Evanston contains 2 Long Day Care centres (175 places), 1 preschool/kindergarten facility (60 places) and 2 OSHC facilities (159 places), with overall provision relative to the local child population appearing favorable compared to national benchmarks, and above the Greater Adelaide average. Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 141 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 0.6 - placing the area among the top 20% nationally for supply per child. Looking at long day care specifically against the under-5 population, the ratio is 0.8 children per place (upper quintile supply). Further breakdowns by age, to help in identifying the most in-need services, show strong LDC provision for the infant and toddler cohort (<3yo) with 175 places across 2 facilities serving 89 children while preschool supply is similarly strong with 1 facility providing 60 places (1.0 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Greater Adelaide average of 2.8). With projected population growth of 35.8% between now and 2041, and 24.1% in the under 5 age group in particular, 38 new places will be needed to maintain today's ratios. As well as this projected growth, other factors worth noting are lower female labour force participation of 51.4%, as well as lower quartile employment and income performance.
In assessing child care markets local school supply is a particularly important factor, given school-run convenience, and enrolment vs child care place analysis can provide useful insight into capacity both for parents seeking child care options and child care operators assessing opportunities in an area. The catchment sees a level of school enrolment relative to population of 45.5 per 100 residents with 1,264 enrolments across primary and secondary institutions. This notably elevated rate of school supply suggests many students travel to the area from beyond the immediate surrounds, typically amplifying local childcare demand given school-run proximity. Additionally, the level of school places per child care place (LDC+PSK) is moderate. Out of school hours child care provision is similarly strong, with 159 places serving the 5-12 cohort. Proximity analysis saw distances of local residents to their nearest child care centre being shorter than average. Another finding worth noting is the low level of commercial activity in the area and assessment of local working populations which suggest many of the local population commute elsewhere for work with nearby services potentially taking some pressure off local child care centres.
1 school catchment intersects Evanston (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only - primary school data only available in SA), in which 809 children aged under 5 reside, served by 560 LDC and preschool places. The demand-to-supply ratio for this catchment is 1.4 children per place.