Child care worker Marci Then helps her daughter, Mila, 4, put away toys to get ready for circle time at the Little Learners Academy in Smithfield, R.I. A new study highlights the high cost of child care. (Photo by Elaine S. Povich/Stateline)
The cost of child care now exceeds the price of college tuition in 38 states and the District of Columbia, according to a new analysis conducted by the Economic Policy Institute.
The left-leaning think tank, based in Washington, D.C., used 2023 federal and nonprofit data to compare the monthly cost of infant child care to that of tuition at public colleges.
The tally increased five states since the pandemic began. EPI’s last analysis relied on 2020 data, which showed child care costs outstripped college costs in 33 states and Washington, D.C., said EPI spokesperson Nick Kauzlarich.
The organization released a state-by-state guide on Wednesday showing the escalating cost of child care. Average costs range from $521 per month in Mississippi to as much as $1,893 per month in Washington, D.C., for households with one 4-year-old child, EPI found.
The analysis also found child care costs have exceeded rent prices in 17 states and the District of Columbia.
In Wisconsin, the average annual cost of care was just under $17,000, EPI reported. The average in-state college tuition cost was $9,129 and average annual rent cost was $13,088.
EPI leaders said child care is unaffordable for working families across the country, but especially for low-wage workers, including those who provide child care.
“This isn’t inevitable — it is a policy choice,” Katherine deCourcy, EPI research assistant, said in a news release. “Federal and state policymakers can and should act to make child care more affordable, and ensure that child care workers can afford the same quality of care for their own children.”
The organization highlighted New Mexico as a case study on the growing challenge facing families.
There, the average annual cost of infant care exceeds $14,000 — or nearly $1,200 a month, the group said. Care for a four-year-old costs nearly $10,000 per year — or over $800 a month.
While experts often consider housing as a family’s single largest expense, EPI found New Mexico’s annual infant care costs outpace rent by over 10%. Child care is out of reach for about 90% of New Mexico residents, according to the federal government’s definition of affordability, which is no more than 7% of a family’s income.
Advocates often call for universal preschool programs as a way to provide quality, free child care. EPI noted a 2022 constitutional amendment approved by New Mexico voters guaranteeing a right to early childhood education. That created an annual fund of about $150 million to help subsidize early childhood programs.
“New Mexico’s investments mark an important step toward affordable child care, but investments like this are needed across the country,” EPI argued in a Wednesday blog post.
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