A zip code-level analysis of early childhood music franchises in the United States

Early childhood music offerings often fall under two categories described as either philanthropically funded projects intended to reach underserved communities or tuition-dependent classes offered to parent–child dyads. The cost, time commitment and energy required for both children and parents to participate in these classes is similar to the cost, time commitment and energy associated with intensive parenting . Of the organizations that provide tuition-dependent classes in the United States, several companies provide opportunities to those interested in operating an early childhood music franchise (ECMF). The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between US geographic locations (as indicated by zip codes) with ECMFs and the capacity to intensively parent. The following questions guided our inquiry: (1) to what degree do those living in geographic areas where ECMFs are located reflect the income, education, age, race, ethnicity and urbanicity associated with intensive parenting? and (2) to what extent do these characteristics align with national averages? Of the 41,618 total zip codes in the United States, we found 1362 zip codes with at least one ECMF. In those 1362 zip codes, median family income, educational achievement and a combined measure of educational achievement, income and employment in professional or executive positions were all statistically significantly higher than national averages. There were more people under the age of 50 than the national average, and although the areas were overwhelmingly more urban than rural, the race/ethnicity of those living in these areas was less diverse than typically found in urban areas. Results indicated that ECMFs in the United States are located in areas with households that share the attributes of those likely to practice intensive parenting.