The National Household Education Survey (NHES) collects data on the educational activities of the United States population. NHES is designed as a telephone survey of the noninstitutionalized population of the United States. The survey was fielded for the first time in 1991 and will be conducted annually beginning in 1993. Each survey will examine a different topic or topics related to education. This report presents findings from the 1991 NHES, which examined young children's participation in nonparental care and early education programs. The first part of the report provides background information on the survey. The second part presents data on the relationship between preschoolers' participation in nonparental care and early childhood education programs, and child characteristics, family characteristics, and maternal employment. The third part presents data on the relationship between the number of hours per week preschoolers spend in nonparental care and early education programs, and child characteristics, family socioeconomic characteristics, and maternal employment. Preschool children's participation in home-based and center-based programs is discussed in the fourth part. The fifth part examines the relationship between children's participation in the child care arrangement in which they spend the most time per week, and child characteristics, family characteristics, and maternal employment. The sixth part discusses characteristics of center-based programs, including group size and child-staff ratios. The report is summarized in the seventh part. A discussion of the survey methodology is included. (Contains 17 references.) (BC)