Excerpts from the report:
2010 Update presents 2009 data about child care costs collected through a survey conducted in January 2010 that asked for the average costs charged for child care for infants, 4-year-old children and school-age children in child care centers and family child care homes in every state. The information was provided by Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) State Networks and local agencies that maintain data about child care programs in the communities they serve.
Child Care Costs Are High:
- The average cost of full-time child care for an infant in a center in 2009 ranged from more than $4,550 in Mississippi to more than $18,750 in Massachusetts.
- The average cost of care for full-time care for a 4-year-old child in a center, ranged from more than $4,050 in Mississippi to more than $13,150 a year in Massachusetts.
- The average cost of care for a school-age child for part-time care in a center ranged from more than $2,150 in Mississippi to more than $10,000 in New York.
- The average annual cost for full-time care in a family child care home for an infant ranged from more than $3,550 in South Carolina to more than $11,900 in Massachusetts.
- The average annual cost for full-time care in a family child care home for a 4-year-old child ranged from more than $3,750 in Mississippi to more than $11,450 in Massachusetts.
- The average annual cost for part-time care in a family child care home for a school-age child ranged from more than $1,800 in Mississippi to more than $9,400 in New York.
- Since 2000, the cost of child care has increased twice as fast as the median income of families with children.
- In 40 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.