What Are The Costs of Not Affording Childcare

By Madison Darmstadt 

    Stonehill College junior Chloe Thomas, is an education major learning about the cost of childcare and how it affects families. As a future educator, she finds the consistent rise of childcare cost concerning. 

    "I think all children deserve a safe environment to be socialized before entering the education system," said Thomas. 

    "Parents shouldn't have to worry as much about the cost of childcare when there are so many other things parents need to focus on," she said. 

    According to Childcare Aware of America, the national average price of childcare since 2023 was $11,582. Ten percent of a married couple's median income - if they had children - would be necessary to afford this national average price, the organization found. 

    Gwen Robison, an elementary school teacher with one child, considers herself lucky. 

    "We lived near retired family members who helped look after her while we worked," she said.

    Others are not as fortunate. 

    "I feel like it is all anyone talks about. I still hear parents at school and other teachers with children worry about how they are going to afford it," Robison said. 

    According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, childcare should not cost a two-parent family more than 7% of their annual income. 

    This is not realistic for many families, especially those with multiple children or a single parent, several said. 

    The National childcare Association notes that cost and accessibility are the two reasons why many families resort to informal childcare which does not reap the same benefits as formal childcare. 

    "We're taught that formal childcare can be really formative for young kids. It prepares them to be more successful once they enter schooling," Thomas said. 

    Grace Robison, another education major at Stonehill College agreed with Thomas.

    "Fine motor skills and social skills are all developed by a child attending childcare. These skills are necessary for schooling and if they're already developed, a child is set up for more success," said Robison. 

    "I think not being able to afford childcare could potentially stunt a child's ability to stay on pace with education, they just aren't being given the best circumstances," she said. 

    Robison, as an education major, believes that childcare should be more easily accessible for families and is hopeful that this can be accomplished. 

    "For families to be able to afford childcare they usually need to step back from being present with their families which can also set a child back developmentally, there has to be another way," she said. 

    Many childcare workers aware of the benefits of formal childcare are advocating for governmental investments as the costs of formal childcare continues to rise. 

    According to the National Childcare Association, childcare is essential for many families, and to not invest in it would be a disservice to many American families.