This fact sheet provides the first nationally representative portrait of home-based providers of early care and education using data from the newly available National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE). We describe individuals who care for other people's children, age five and under, in home-based settings. Key characteristics we report include the numbers of such providers, numbers of children cared for, whether providers are paid/unpaid for care, and what if any prior personal relationships existed between providers and the children they care for. (author abstract)