(Harrisburg) -- The number of children who benefit from the state's publicly funded pre-kindergarten and child care subsidies has slightly increased within the past couple of years. But a new report shows more than 40 percent of children under the age of five in the state live in low-income households. Joan Benso is president of the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, the organization that conducted the study. She says the 2011 School Readiness Report also found children who are approved for such programs often don't start right away. "The average family waits at least four months from when they're determined eligible to when they get to enroll their child, so imagine that," she says. "Imagine four months that you're trying to piece together 20, 30, or 40 hours of child care for very young children so you could go to work." Benso says nearly 8,400 kids are currently on waiting lists to receive child care subsidies. She adds it's important for lawmakers not to change eligibility standards for such programs since thousands of children in moderate-income households require assistance as well.