After having their first child, Kevin, three months ago, Krystle and Scott Stull said they were surprised to learn how expensive child care is.
For now, Krystle Stull's mom watches the infant while the parents search around for a provider they are comfortable with and can afford.
"It's going to be $160 a week or more where we're looking," said Krystle Stull, who lives in Brookston. "We're going to see if we can get any financial aid. But there's a wait."
Across the U.S., average child care expenses are rising faster than inflation. And for infants such as Kevin, the average cost is more than families spend on food each month, according to a report released Monday by the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies.
According to the report, which studied average child care costs around the nation, Indiana is one of the least affordable states for child care.
Hoosiers can expect to spend about 8.9 percent of the median two-parent income, which is about $71,172, for a school-age child in a day care center. That's the third highest in the nation, according to the report. For infant care at a center, families can expect to spend 13.5 percent of income -- the ninth highest percentage in the U.S.
The expense is greater for single-parent homes. Infant care in a center in Indiana, for example, was an average 42.5 percent of the median single-parent income of $22,542.
Child care costs have always been a burden, but local providers said these trends concern them now especially because the recession has caused unemployment and reduced income for many families.
Victoria Matney, director of the Child Care Resource Network, said she worries that as families scale back expenses they will look for cheaper child care options, such as neighbors instead of licensed providers. Her agency helps train providers and place children in high-quality care in Tippecanoe and surrounding counties.
"From my perspective, it seems as though families are trading quality for cost," Matney said.
She said studies show and teachers report that children who receive high-quality care early are better prepared for and perform better in school.
Marilyn Redmon is executive director of Tippecanoe County Child Care, which operates five child care centers and oversees the Child Care Resource Network.
She said her centers, which offer a sliding fee scale based on what families can afford, have decreased the lowest fees. But she said the center still has been affected by families losing jobs and not finding new work quickly.
"We're seeing families coming that can't even afford our sliding fee scale, and that's different," Redmon said.
Home care providers are also feeling that crunch. Lori Bonebright serves 12 kids out of her Fireflies and Fairytales home center in Williamsport. She said until the state recently released money to Warren County to offset child care expenses, she was losing money as parents lost income.
"I lost a lot of children due to layoffs," Bonebright said.
"Recently I picked up some due to stimulus money, but if it wasn't for that, I was seeing a lot of parents not being able to pay me or asking if they can pay me next week."
Redmon said the state recently released some stimulus money to help reduce the wait lists for financial aid, but that the list had grown so long it deterred families.