The cost of child care keeps outpacing inflation

Data: Child Care Aware; Map: Axios VisualsThe cost of child care in the U.S. just keeps climbing — a new report finds that prices rose 29% from 2020 to 2024, outpacing overall inflation.Why it matters: Rising child care costs put a huge financial strain on families, forcing some parents — typically women — to either ratchet back their working hours or leave the labor force entirely. For single parents, the calculus can be even more painful.It's also a drag on economic growth overall. By the numbers: The average annual cost of daycare tuition nationwide for two children — one toddler and one infant — rose to $28,168 last year, according to data from Child Care Aware, an advocacy group.That's about 35% of median household annual income in the U.S., based on Census data released in 2024.Zoom in: The percentages are no less brutal in states with higher incomes. The cost of care for two children in Massachusetts is $47,012 — 44% of the median household income in that state.Zoom out: The U.S. doesn't have publicly funded universal childcare. However, the federal government does put money into the system for low-income kids through block grants to the states, as well as Head Start, the decades-old federal program that provides childcare, nutrition assistance and other services to the nation's poorest familiesThere were worries that the White House would stop funding Head Start, but the administration has said that won't happen.Yes, but: President Trump's budget proposals look to keep federal funding levels for child care flat next year — that's effectively a cut given inflation, says Anne Hedgepeth, senior vice president of policy and research at Child Care Aware."Level funding in the current environment is essentially a cut, and that is really concerning," she says.

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