Child Care Costs Eat Up More Of MA Parents' Income – Patch

By Chris Rhatigan

Parents in Massachusetts with young children are spending about 20 percent of their income on child care, according to a new report that calls prices “untenable for families,” even for those who live in areas where rates are lower.

That’s about $22,000 a year in 2022 dollars, according to the National Database of Childcare Prices, which offers the most comprehensive look yet at how child care costs vary across 2,360 counties in 47 states. The report was released earlier this week by the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor.

Here is the median cost for infant center-based child care for several Massachusetts counties:

  • Worcester County: $19,112; 18.4 percent of median income

  • Middlesex County, $26,409; 19.5 percent of median income

  • Suffolk: $23,166; 28 percent of median income

  • Norfolk: $26,409; 18.9 percent of median income

  • Barnstable: $17,644; 17 percent of median income

  • Essex: $23,108; 21.5 percent of median income

Read the full story

Previous
Previous

Eastern Mass. has some of the highest child care costs in the country – Boston Globe

Next
Next

Renewed Push for Affordable, High-Quality Early Education and Child Care Kicks Off With Filing of Bills to Advance Common Start Agenda