Low Income and Impoverished Families Pay More Disproportionately for Child Care

Summary

This policy brief highlights a sobering reality that many working families know all to well: Child care in America is expensive. But the newsflash is this: Relative to their wealthier counterparts, poorer households devote five times as much of their paychecks to cover child care costs. This data-packed document makes a quick and convincing case for investing in a vital lifeline — child care subsidies — to aid the nation’s neediest families.

Table of Contents

• Child Care is a Considerable Expense for Poor and Low-Income Families
• Rural Families with Less Education Shoulder Larger Child Care Cost Burdens
• Child Care Subsidies Ease Cost Burden
• Policy Implications
• Data Used
• Endnotes

Key Takeaway

The bottom line: Poorer families spend more of their paychecks on child care

America’s poorest working families spend 32% of their household incomes on child care. By comparison, their wealthier counterparts devote just 7 to 8% of their paychecks to cover child care costs. Otherwise put: Households that are already struggling to make ends meet are also shouldering the heaviest financial burden when it comes to obtaining safe and reliable care for their children.