New study: Child care costs more than college in most states and DC

You already knew that child care for your child was expensive, but did you know where your state ranks?

Depending on where in America you live, the cost of full time child care center can range from $5,496 to nearly $22,000 dollars, a new report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, (IWPR), found. Here are some key results you need to know:

1. The struggle is real: In most states and in Washington, DC, “the annual costs of center care for an infant are higher than the costs of attending a year of college at a public university,” IWPR found. [Us: !!!]

2. “The annual cost of center care for an infant as a proportion of women’s median earnings is lowest in Alabama (16.8 percent of women’s median annual earnings). In seven other states—Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Tennessee—the costs are also lower than 20 percent of women’s median annual earnings.” The ratio of childcare costs to income matters, the IWPR notes, because the cost of care often has a direct impact on whether or not a woman decides to work. They also found that “the cost is highest in the District of Columbia (36.6 percent); in two other states—Massachusetts and Minnesota—costs are comparable to more than a third of annual earnings.

3. The need for quality child care is great: Across the United States, “in half of all families with children, women are the primary or co-breadwinners.”

You can access the full list below to see where your state ranks (you’re welcome!). But, sorry, we can’t help with those steep, pesky payments.