EXCERPT FROM: WIVT/WBGH Newschannel34
By Family Enrichment Network
According to a recent report released by the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) entitled, Parents and the High Cost of Child Care: 2010 Update, parents who choose child care in a center or a family child care home must pay a significant part of their income for this care. Low- and middle-income parents have limited access to affordable, quality care.
The report provides average costs of child care for infants, 4-year-olds, and school-age children in centers and family child care homes in every state. The average cost that parents paid for full-time care for a 4-year-old child in a center, ranged from more than $4,050 in Mississippi to more than $13,150 a year in Massachusetts. In every U.S. region of the U.S., the average center-based child care fees for an infant exceeded the average annual amount that families spent on food. In every state, monthly child care fees for two children at any age exceeded the median monthly rent cost, and were nearly as high, or even higher than, the average monthly mortgage payment.
“The cost of quality child care is out of reach for too many families,” said Linda Smith, Executive Director of NACCRRA. “It is unimaginable that the cost of infant care in a child care center is more than the cost of college in 40 states. It’s time to increase our public investment in improving the quality of child care for all families.”
In Broome County, the average cost of full-time child care for infants is $6,477 per year, per child, in family child care and $7,985 for center care per year. The average cost of full-time child care for preschoolers is $5,957 per year, per child for family child care; center costs average $7, 324 per child, per year. This is more than the cost of public college tuition in New York - $4,970 per year for a four year state college; $3,276 per year for a local two year college.
Today, more than 11 million children under age 5 are in some type of child care arrangement every week. On average, children of working mothers spend 36 hours a week in child care. Studies repeatedly have shown that high-quality child care - care that provides a loving, safe, stable and age-appropriate stimulating environment - helps children enter school ready to learn. Unfortunately, the high cost of child care limits parents’ options when it comes to choosing child care.
“New York parents need child care in order to work,” said Jenn Perney, Director of CCR&R of Family Enrichment Network. “Because child care can be so expensive, it is often times the first thing families are forced to cut. Parents begin to look for more less expensive options, often times unregulated care, which could potentially jeopardize the health and safety of the children in that care. That’s why it is more important now than ever before that we make high-quality child care more affordable for all families.”
To improve access to affordable, high-quality child care for all families, NACCRRA is calling on Congress to reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the primary public source of child care funds to states to help pay for child care and improve the quality of care. Additionally, NACCRRA recommends providing resources for planning and developing child care capacity to increase the availability of child care options for working families; reducing barriers in the subsidy administration process that prevent families from accessing assistance; ensuring that public prekindergarten programs are designed to meet the child care needs of working families, and improving federal and state tax codes to help families at all income levels pay for care.