Stressed-out families are struggling to find affordable, high-quality day care all over the country. More so in states like North Carolina, where efforts to raise educational requirements for day-care workers have increased expenses at child-care centers. Providers, in turn, have passed those costs along to parents.
Today, North Carolina ranks among the most expensive states for child care, according to a report by the National Association for Child Care Resources and Referral Agencies. The association found that North Carolina is the eighth least-affordable state.
The average two-income family with a 4-year-old spends about 11 percent of its income on day care. Single parents spend a whopping 36 percent. And for families with infants, the costs are significantly higher. Parents of infants pay an average of $562 each month in North Carolina. In Fayetteville, it is not unheard of for top-notch centers to charge more than $700 a month for infant care.
The exorbitant costs quickly trickle down to employers because workers who have child-care problems are more likely to miss work or be distracted on the job. Employers pay the price in lower productivity and efficiency.
Children lose out when parents can’t afford to pay for early childhood education, because the earlier children are in the hands of trained educators, the greater the likelihood they will succeed later in life. Children in pre-kindergarten classes have a greater chance that developmental delays will be identified and addressed.
Solving child-care issues is not as simple as relying on government subsidies. There is public help available but not enough for every family that qualifies. In Cumberland County, 43 percent of all children in day care receive subsidies. In August, the county Department of Social Services spent $1.7 million — an average of $334 per child for 5,100 children. Over 1,000 others are on a waiting list.