Child care prices continued to outpace the rate of inflation for the third consecutive year.
Child Care Aware of America (CCAoA)’s newly released report, Price of Care: 2021 Child Care Affordability, second in in the series Catalyzing Growth: Using Data to Change Child Care, outlines the continuing increases in the price of child care across the United States and highlights the ongoing struggle many families face.
Notable points within the report include:
- The national average price of child care was around $10,600 annually, which comprises 10% of a married-couple’s average annual income and 35% of a single parent’s average annual income.
- In every state and the District of Columbia, child care prices for two children in center-based care exceeded annual rent payments.
- Child care prices remain high. While recent investments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic may have helped to stabilize some of the supply of child care, the system and the families it serves are still fighting toward thriving. Lawmakers need to see this information and hear the demand from advocates to invest in child care now.
The full Price of Care: 2021 Child Care Affordability report, including the state-by-state data included in the Child Care Affordability Analysis and state-specific fact sheets, is now available on the CCAoA website.