Child-care costs in Minnesota are the third highest in the nation based on the price of child care as a percentage of the state median income for a two-parent family, according to a new report from the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA).
And single parents here spend almost half their monthly income on day care, the report said.
In every region of the country, according to the report, the average monthly child-care fees for an infant in 2008 were higher than the average amount families spent on food each month. Also, in every state, monthly child-care fees for two children at any age exceeded the median cost of rent and were nearly as high – or 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 Arlington, Va.-based NACCRRA. “No parent should have to choose a poor-quality child-care setting just because they cannot afford anything better for their children. It’s time to increase our investment in improving the quality of child care for all families.”
According to the report, the average price of full-time care for an infant in a day-care center was as high as $15,895 last year in Massachusetts, where parents spent the second-highest percentage of their income on day care. Parents paid as much as $11,680 a year for part-time care for a 4-year-old in a center; the report found that average prices for full-time care in a family child-care home were as much as $10,324 for infants, $9,805 for a 4-year-old and $7,124 for a school-age child.
The report found that the average yearly cost for child care in Minnesota in 2008 was $12,800 for an infant and $9,700 for a 4-year-old. That compares to an average monthly mortgage payment in the state of $1,500 and average monthly rent of $711.
According to the report, the median family income for a single-parent family in Minnesota last year was $26,418, and the average yearly cost to have two children in day care was $22,500 – 85.2 percent of that family’s income.
Although the report shows that costs are lower for family child-care homes, many such providers are unlicensed, leaving the health and safety of children in those settings in question, according to the NACCRRA report.
The advocacy group is asking Congress to reauthorize Child Care and Development Block Grants, which states get to help low-income parents pay for child care so they can work. These grants have been the primary public source of money to help states pay for child care and improve its quality.
Reauthorization of the grants should include an increase not only in the amount of money to pay for child-care slots, but also in the “quality set-aside,” or the amount of money that states use to improve the quality of care available to families, the NACCRRA suggests.
Minnesota is slated to receive almost $26.1 million in federal stimulus dollars targeted for Child Care and Development Block Grants this year, a $500,000 cut from the previous year. Of that amount, $2.1 million will go toward quality improvement and another $1.2 million toward improving the quality of care for infants and toddlers. The money does not require a state match.