Fact SheetChild Care

Sh*t Costs Too Much: Child Care

One in five parents pay more than $30,000 a year for child care while federal help reaches just 15% of eligible kids — and tariffs, funding cuts, and immigration raids are making it worse.

Fact sheet · July 2026

Fact Sheet

Sh*t Costs Too Much.

Fact sheet · July 2026

The topline

$30K+

One in five parents pay more than this a year for child care

20%

Average share of family income spent on child care

15%

Of eligible children reached by federal child care assistance

Americans are paying more for everything these days. For parents of young children, few bills land harder than child care. Child care centers are staring down cost hikes on food, supplies, insurance, and rent. One in five parents surveyed this year reported paying more than $2,500 a month, while the federal help families count on to afford care falls further behind. For many families, the cost of child care is starting to rival entire paychecks as millions struggle to make ends meet.

Key points

One in five parents reported paying more than $30,000 a year for child care, or $2,500 every month. To cover it, 31% are dipping into savings.
The average parent reported spending 20% of their family’s income on child care.
The federal baseline for “affordable” child care is just 7% of a family’s income, but 78% of parents surveyed said they fork over at least 10% of their income for child care.
Child care costs are outrunning inflation, with prices growing at more than twice the overall rate of inflation in most states.
Child care centers are staring down price hikes on nearly every line item, particularly insurance. Last year, liability insurance costs rose for 68% of programs (up from 46% the previous year), property insurance rose for 66%, and rent rose for 44%.
Federal child care assistance reaches just 15% of eligible children, leaving more than four in five families who qualify for help without it.

Core drivers

Tariffs are adding to child care provider costs

A new round of import taxes covering 59 countries and the European Union took effect in late July, reaching more than 99% of everything the country imports. With Americans absorbing 96% of that cost, child care programs are reporting cost increases across nearly every category, including food and supplies for kids. The industry already operates on margins too thin to quickly absorb cost hikes, forcing providers to pass on costs to parents.

Federal child care assistance is falling behind

Federal child care assistance already reaches only 15% of the children eligible for it and routinely gets underfunded. This year, Congress appropriated $160 million less than what was required to match inflation. The administration pushed for even deeper cuts, proposing to zero out grant programs for early education and child care assistance. Over the past year, parents and programs have endured frozen federal funds, forced Head Start closures, and a hollowed-out federal bureaucracy overseeing grant distributions.

Immigration raids are shrinking the child care workforce

Immigrants make up one in five child care workers nationwide, and nearly a third are undocumented. Federal immigration enforcement agents have stopped treating child care centers, bus stops, and playgrounds as protected areas, resulting in staff staying home. More than forty lawmakers have warned that immigration crackdowns could shrink the child care workforce by 15%.

Every figure here is sourced and linked to public reporting, government data, and independent analysis.

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