The Cost of Care: Child Care by the Numbers
Child care now costs more than college tuition in most states. The receipts are here.
The Cost of Care.
2 pages · PDF
> tuition
Child care costs more than in-state college in most states
$1,500+
Typical monthly cost for infant care in many metros
10%
Share of income care should cost — the reality is far higher
Child care now costs more than college tuition in most states. The receipts are here. This fact sheet pulls together what families across the country are actually paying — and lays out where the system is failing them.
The squeeze on child care isn’t an accident or a force of nature. It’s the product of specific choices about how our economy works and who it works for. Understand the choices, and you can change them.
What we found
- For many families, one paycheck now goes almost entirely to child care.
- Parents — mostly mothers — leave the workforce because the math doesn't work.
- Providers can't raise wages, so quality care gets harder to find.
Day care costs more than my mortgage. I love my job, but the math barely works anymore.
— Priya S., Austin TX
Methodology: figures shown are illustrative sample data for this design mockup. The published report draws on public price indexes, wage data, and first-hand accounts collected from families across all 50 states.
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