Ever-more Americans are turning to social media to rant about the rising cost of childcare, which researchers now say gobbles up a quarter of parents’ incomes and leaves millions plundering rainy-day funds.
Across the US, parents are complaining that nannies and daycare now cost more than rent, mortgage repayments or college tuition fees. One Massachusetts mom says it’s ‘one of the reason the people are not having kids anymore.’
Care.com this week released its annual report on the $340 billion-a-year industry.
It found that 24 percent of parents spend a quarter of their household income on childcare, while nearly half spent more than $18,000 last year.
Florida realtor Freddie Smith was ‘blown away’ by daycare costs in Orlando.
The group’s CEO Brad Wilson said parents of under-fives were being ‘forced into a financial hole that is nearly impossible to climb out of.’
This is a ‘major red flag’ in an election year.
The childcare crisis was so bad that 88 percent of parents say support from the federal government could swing how they vote in this year’s presidential election — which is set to be a face-off between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
‘A healthy economy depends upon the ability for people to save and spend, but given the crushing weight of childcare costs, those pillars are crumbling,’ added Wilson.
‘It is a systemic failure that will impact our nation’s economic growth.’
Wilson’s fears are borne out by the TikTok videos posted by cash strapped parents across the US.
They include, Paige Turner, a Massachusetts mom-of-four who juggles parenting and working from home.
Massachusetts mom-of-four Paige Turner sounds the alarm about the childcare crisis
Friends have been forced to ‘leave the workforce’ because the $28,000-per-year cost of infant childcare ‘rivals the cost of in state college tuition,’ Turner says.
‘The lack of childcare is leading to drastic changes in the way people view family planning,’ she added.
‘This posed big questions for ‘what our economy and country will look like in 10, 20, 30 years from now, when a lot of millennials choose not to have children, because they cannot afford them.’
Meanwhile, in Orlando, Florida, Freddie Smith, a realtor, described his jaw dropping when friends told him they were splashing out $2,200 on childcare each month.
‘I was blown away,’ he said.
He spoke about a friend who earned $65,000 per year — but was left with just $18,000 after nanny wages, taxes, and gas.
According to Care.com’s survey, Massachusetts is the most expensive state to hire a nanny — $899 per week.
Parents across the US are taking to TikTok t rant about the eye-watering costs of a nanny
Getting a space for a child at a daycare center can involve a lengthy waiting list
It’s followed by Washington DC, California, Washington state and Connecticut.
Mississippians pay the least for nannies — $577 per week.
Oklahoma, Alabama, Louisiana, and West Virginia round out the cheapest five states.
Nanny costs jumped 4 percent last year, while daycare prices soared by 13 percent to a national average of $321 per week.
Costs spiked because pandemic-related federal subsidies for childcare ended in September 2023, forcing some daycare centers out of business.
As a result, parents have been spending more, and being forced to dip into their savings, according to the group’s survey of 2,000 moms and dads.
More than a third of parents raided their savings accounts, burning through 42 percent of their rainy-day funds on average.
Vice President Kamala Harris last year announced plans to lower the cost of childcare for US families with a proposal to cap co-payments under a block grant program.
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