According to a report released today by the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), the cost of child care continues to increase while families struggle to afford quality care. Parents and the High Cost of Child Care: 2011 Update provides results from a survey of Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) State Networks and local agencies, which asked for the average fees charged by child care programs in 2010.

The report, which provides the average cost of child care for infants, 4-year-olds, and school-age children in centers and family child care homes nationwide, reveals that in 36 states, the average annual cost for center-based care for an infant was higher than a year’s tuition and related fees at a four-year public college. In every state, center-based child care costs for two children (an infant and a 4-year-old) exceeded annual average rent payments.

“Child care is essential to working families and working families are key to economic growth,” said Linda K. Smith, NACCRRA’s Executive Director. “But, child care today is simply unaffordable for most families.”

According to the report, in 2010, the average annual cost of full-time care for an infant in a center ranged from $4,650 in Mississippi to $18,200 a year in the District of Columbia.  Parents of a 4-year-old child paid average fees of $3,900 in Mississippi to $14,050 a year in the District of Columbia. In New York, parents of school-age children paid up to $10,400 a year for part-time care in a center. The report also found that in 2010, the average annual cost of full-time care in a family child care home was as much as $12,100 for an infant and $11,300 for a 4-year-old in Massachusetts.

“During the critical years of birth through age 5, 90 percent of a child’s brain is developed and essential learning patterns are established which affect school-readiness,” said Smith. “Children need to be safe in child care and they also need to be in a setting that promotes their healthy development or our early childhood policies undermine our school readiness goals. It is time for policymakers to recognize that connection. Children spend an average of 35 hours a week in child care which means child care is a key early learning program.”

To improve the quality of early learning and make child care more affordable for working families, NACCRRA recommends that Congress:

• Require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to define minimally acceptable quality child care for low income children.
• Require the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to study the true cost of quality care and to offer recommendations to Congress for financing to support quality options for parents.
• Reauthorize CCDBG and add requirements to improve the quality of care:

• Require 40 hours of initial training and 24 hours of annual training in key areas such as CPR, first aid, early childhood development, child behavior/discipline and child abuse detection and prevention.
• Require provider background checks, including fingerprint checks, to ensure child safety.
• Require quarterly inspections to ensure effective oversight.
• Invest in Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies to:
  • Assist providers in becoming licensed and in maintaining compliance with licensing standards; and,
  • Help parents identify quality settings.
• Increase the quality set-aside to 12 percent, increasing over several years to 25 percent (on par with Head Start).
• Provide resources to expand the availability of quality child care, particularly in low-income neighborhoods where there is a shortage of licensed care.
• Reduce barriers that prevent families from easily accessing child care assistance

To download a copy of Parents and the High Cost of Child Care: 2011 Update, please visit www.naccrra.org.