Child care in the U.S. today can cost more than families pay for rent, a mortgage or college tuition
The soaring cost of child care in the United States may now exceed what families pay for housing or college.
That’s according to recently released data outlining the heavy financial burden on the nearly 14 million American parents who rely on paid caregivers to care for their children. By 2022, the most recent year for which data are available, families will spend up to $15,600 per year on full-day care per child, although families with infants could face annual costs of up to $31,544 arrive Recently updated database Prepared by the Department of Labor.
The agency noted that this was more than the U.S. median rent of $15,216 that same year, while some families spent nearly 30% of their annual income on child care. Overall, childcare costs Skyrocketed more than 50% in the past ten years.
“Having a young child is a cause of poverty in this country. It has nothing to do with poverty, it is a cause of poverty,” said E. E., author of the nonfiction book “Left Behind, America’s Child Care Crisis and How to Fix It.” Leot Haspel said, ” Tell October, Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Haspel noted that the demographic group most likely to face eviction “is Black children under the age of five. A lot of this is a story about child care. It’s not a story about housing.”
Families with infants and those living in more populous counties generally pay more for child care or use center-based care instead of home care, the Labor Department found.
“The fact that the median cost of in-center infant care is higher than the median rent should be a cause for urgent concern,” Wendy Chun-Hoon, director of the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau, said in a statement. “Families are struggling. , women are particularly affected.”
Counties with the highest central infant prices as a share of median household income include:
- Stearns County, Minnesota
- Bronx County, New York
- pitt county utah
- Essex County (Vermont)
- Grays Harbor and Wakiakum Counties, Washington
- Guanica County, Puerto Rico
Child care costs can be more than housing or college costs
Other studies have found that paying for child care can cost more than a typical family’s annual housing costs and even more than tuition at an in-state public college.
In some U.S. states, child care costs are draining more than a quarter A 2023 Bank of America report found that the service accounts for a portion of the average household’s total income, with the typical household spending $700 per month on the service.
In 2022, child care for two children in one center cost more than a typical annual mortgage payment in 41 states and the District of Columbia, while infant care in one center cost more than a public university in 32 states and the District of Columbia. In-state tuition, based on arrive Advocacy organization First Focus.
Although childcare workers make up a large portion of many families’ income, their wages are generally low. According to statistics, as of May 2023, the average wage is $15.42 per hour, or just over $32,000 per year. arrive Federal data. Haspel noted that overall, child care workers’ wages nationally are among the lowest 5 percent of all occupations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing Child care worker shortage Thousands of people left the industry for higher-paying jobs. First Focus found that more than half of child care providers surveyed in 2024 said their programs were under-enrolled relative to current capacity due to staffing shortages and other reasons.
The U.S. Department of Labor said $24 billion in federal pandemic aid to child care providers and another $14 billion to help states address the issues have prevented further increases in costs.
“We know that interventions like the American Rescue Plan help, but more federal investment is needed to ensure that child care is accessible and affordable for all,” Chun-Hoon said, referring to the 2021 A massive stimulus bill aimed at boosting the economy. health crisis.
