Having kids will cost you. New data from the Department of Labor found that American families may pay more for child care than they do for rent in a calendar year.
In 2022, families in the U.S. spent up to 16 percent of their median income full-day child care for one kid. That’s equivalent to up to $15,600 per year.
Partial-day child care is likewise expensive, costing American families as much as 9.4 percent of their median income per child. That’s as much as $9,211 each year.
In contrast to those numbers, the median price of a year’s worth of rent is $15,216.
The findings are from by the National Database of Childcare Prices, which is sponsored by the Women’s Bureau at the Department of Labor. It includes data from 48 states, along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
The department noted that child care “vary dramatically” based on factors including age, population size, and the type of center. Despite that fact, in nearly every county that data was available, child care prices were high relative to family income.
“These costs are just untenable for an awful lot of families,” Gretchen Livingston, the branch chief for quantitative research at the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau, told NBC News. “There may come a time where people have to make a decision: Does it really make sense for me to keep my job and pay this much for child care, or should I stay home?”
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