Find local angles as child-care costs outpace rising rental rates

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Here’s a talker from CNN Money you can jump right on and localize:  “Child care costs exceed rent in most states.”

As the article notes, a new report from the advocacy group Child Care Aware of America says the annual cost of infant care rose 2 percent last year, and ranges from $4,600 a year in Mississippi to some $15,000 a year in Massachusetts.  Care for a four-year-old rose 4 percent and in two-children families, the cost of care exceeded rental shelter costs in all 50 states.

What an amazing statistic, and one readers would appreciate the local take on.  It’s a good story to report as families are preparing to transition from summer arrangements back to school-year child care schedules.  It’s also significant in light of the fact that apartment rents are rising, as this Reuters piece reports based on information from the commercial real-estate market analysis firm Reis.  Vacancy rates are the lowest in more than a decade as wary consumers eschew home ownership or have been forced by adversity like foreclosure and/or unemployment into the rental market.  Last week’s Consumer Price Index report from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics also reflects an uptick in both child-care costs and rental rates.   A graphic or pie chart showing real consumers’ expenditures in these and other areas, as a share of net income, would be quite compelling. 

Here’s a link to the report summary from Child Care Aware, it ranks least-affordable states and highlights quality-of-care issues; you can request the entire report from the organization. 

The notion of child care costing more than shelter is an interesting consumer dynamic; you can start with a non-scientific survey of rates for various child-care options (day-care facility, nanny, home licensed caregiver, etc.) and contrast it with a survey of rental rates in your area.  It’s possible that Reis or area property management companies will help you determine an average rental rate for the local market. 

Cuts to state child-care subsidies (a ripple, in some cases, from cuts to federal spending) are exacerbating costs problems for families; you should check on the status of child care aid via your state’s health department.  Here’s a fresh link from the National Conference of State Legislatures about pending laws related to child care; you can search by state and/or by issue — including financing — and talk to bill sponsors about what’s prompting the rule changes.

Ask child care providers what their cost inputs are, from insurance to supplies to workers and wages to facilities.  What are their profit margins?  How do costs at non-profit centers, such as those operated by churches, compare to for-profit organizations?  Talk to franchisees of the many commercial day care and early childhood education centers out there; how is the model working out for entrepreneurs?  What are their thoughts about cost containment and affordability?

Check on workplace-related child care — are more or fewer employers offering this service to workers? 

And just as background vis a vis parenthood and the economy, here’s a recent release noting that the birth rate in the United States is expected to hit a 25-year low this year.