The High Cost Of Childcare

Child care is a major expense in family budgets, often exceeding the cost of housing, college tuition, transportation or food. Unlike all other areas of education investment, including higher education, families pay the majority of costs for early education. A recent release, Parents and the High Cost of Child Care 2013 Report,by Child Care Aware of America provides information about the cost of child care from a recent survey of Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) State Network offices and local agencies. Child care costs were reported for infants, 4-year-olds, and school-age care in centers and family child care homes. The report also compares the cost of child care to household income, expenses and college tuition.

According to the report, in Pennsylvania, the 2012 average annual cost for an infant in a child care center was over $10,000. In contrast, 2012 annual rent payments in Pennsylvania were slightly over $9,000 and 2012 annual tuition and fees at a public college were slightly over $12,000. A Pennsylvania family of three at the poverty level will have spent more than half of their annual income on center-based care for their infant, while a family of three at 150% of poverty level will have spent more than a third. Although costs were lower as a child aged, it didn't look much better for families. Those same families would have spent over 45% and 30% respectively for center-based care for a four-year old.

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Tis The Season...

I'm up on this Saturday planning my holiday 2013 events in advance to avoid chaos and a headache. With shopping, visits with my kids to Santa themed activities and multiple family functions soon ahead planning time and budget saves a lot of stress. During this busy time I allow parents to extend hours of care and/or add days and am even opening my door to limited hours of weekend care. Email for more info!