OPEN MINDS, The Behavioral Health & Social Service Industry Analyst Industry News Early childhood education and the child care industry generated $43 billion in revenues in 2002. The industry employed 900,000 workers as licensed providers and teachers and two million child care providers. States reported the following amounts of generated gross receipts related to direct child care in 2003: New York: $4.7 billion Illinois: $2.12 billion North Carolina: $1.5 billion Connecticut: $1.1 billion