In more than half the country, the answer is yes.
New research shows that in 36 states, it costs more to send your child to day care than to send your child to college. According to the study, “the average annual costs for [daycare center]-based care for an infant was higher than a year’s tuition and related fees at a four-year public college.”
Throughout the country, the average costs of supervising the 11 million American children in daycare increased in 2010. The National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies also found that daycare center-based child care costs “exceeded annual median rent payments in 24 states.”
“Child care is essential to working families and working families are key to economic growth,” Linda K. Smith, the organization’s executive director, said in a press release accompanying the study. “But child care today is simply unaffordable for most families.”
What do you think? Is the cost of day care way too high, or do you pay a premium for quality child care?
