Child Care: More Expensive than College?

Parents need affordable and reliable child care so they can go to work or school. Child care is among the top expenses for working families, and there is no sign of relief in the near future.

Since 2000, the cost of child care has increased twice as fast as the median income of families with children. Families in Indiana are not immune from this trend. According to a study from the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), “Parents and the High Cost of Child Care,” Indiana is among the ten least-affordable states for full-time infant care in a center. The other nine states include Massachusetts, New York, Minnesota, Colorado, California, Oregon, Illinois, Washington and Wisconsin.

To put this in perspective, in 40 states the average annual cost for center-based care for an infant was higher than a year’s tuition and related fees at a four-year public college, according to the report. Something is very wrong here.

So why are childcare costs on the rise? The study says that it actually has to do with the recession. Because many parents have been forced to work part-time, get second jobs, or work odd hours, their child care needs have been changing. Part-time childcare and care during odd hours is more expensive.

So what can we do to remedy the situation? NACCRRA makes the following recommendations:

• Increase investments in child care fee assistance and in quality improvement efforts.
• Provide resources for expanding child care capacity to meet the child care needs for working families.
• Reduce barriers that prevent families from easily accessing child care fee assistance.
• Meet the child care needs of working families by ensuring that publicly funded pre-kindergarten and Head Start programs make full-day, year-round child care services available.
• Design a system of child care that helps families at all income levels have access to affordable, high-quality child care.
• Improve state and federal tax credits and deductions to help all families pay for child care.
• Require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in conjunction with the National Academy of Sciences, to determine the cost of quality child care and report back to Congress.

These are a few ideas. What ideas do you have?

CANI is the intake agent for the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) in Allen, DeKalb, Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, and Whitley counties. The CCDF helps families afford quality child care. Parents must be working, going to school, or receiving job training to qualify.

However, funding is limited for CCDF and there is almost always a waiting list. Can you help? Would you like to sponsor a family who needs help paying for child care? Email me, laurencaggiano@canihelp.org for more information on how you can help.

For more information about CANI’s Child Care Assistance program, visit. www.canihelp.org.ChildCare.htm.