TAMPA, Fla. — Carina Aponte can speak for a lot of parents right now.
“Every day, all day, I’m stressed out,” she said. “I 100% feel hopeless. I feel stuck.”
The mom of an eight-year-old boy and 18-month-old daughter simply doesn’t make enough to afford childcare.
In fact, she’s trapped in a frustrating catch-22: she would like to work more to afford daycare for her toddler but can’t because she doesn’t have it.
“If I could afford the daycare, I could work longer hours. I could, you know, do more things for her and my son,” she said.
Daniel Johnson and his family are in a similarly tough position because of daycare’s cost.
“We’re looking at at least $150 a week, so looking at $600 a month,” he said. “That’s a big part of — a big proportion of my mortgage there.”
A new study by Care.com estimates that, after years of increases, 47% of parents now spend up to $18,000 a year on childcare costs, which is now almost the cost of a year of college tuition.
“Childcare costs are continuing to skyrocket,” said Bryan Jamele, the head of government relations and public policy for Care.com.
Jenelle and his company’s annual report paint a grim picture.
Federal dollars for childcare programs — which were allocated during the pandemic — are drying up. By and large, new daycares aren’t being opened.
Additionally, so many parents are sacrificing. The study found that 28% are working multiple jobs, 27% are reducing their hours at work, 25% are moving closer to family, 19% are going into debt, and 17% are leaving the workforce entirely.
“At the end of the day, when you take a step back and look at kind of these macroeconomic trends, that’s not good for the GDP, that’s not good for the economy, and that’s not good for the United States,” Jamele said.
Jamele, however, isn’t completely hopeless. He thinks the U.S. Congress might expand the child tax credit, and he thinks parents’ voices are being heard.
“Childcare is going to play a critical role in the 2024 election,” he said.
Parents like Johnson and Aponte hope so. Without change, they don’t know how long they can keep making it work.
