{"id":3349,"date":"2022-06-15T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/about\/?post_type=press&p=3349"},"modified":"2022-06-15T17:53:01","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T17:53:01","slug":"majority-of-families-spend-at-least-20-of-household-income-on-childcare-according-to-new-care-com-survey","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/about\/press\/majority-of-families-spend-at-least-20-of-household-income-on-childcare-according-to-new-care-com-survey\/","title":{"rendered":"Majority of Families Spend at Least 20% of Household Income on Childcare According to New Care.com Survey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rising costs impact consumer spending and employment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin, TX (June 15, 2022) \u2013<\/strong> The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services considers childcare affordable at a reported 7% of annual household income (HHI), but that bears little correlation to what parents are actually spending. According to the Care.com 2022 Cost of Care survey<\/a>, 51% of families spend 20% or more of their annual HHI on childcare in 2021, up from 31% of families in 2019, and 72% spending at least 10% of their HHI on childcare, up from 70% in 2019. These expenditures are also having a domino effect on the economy with families working, saving, and spending less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ninth annual Cost of Care survey from Care.com, the world\u2019s largest online destination for finding and managing family care, reveals that 58% of families plan to spend more than $10,000 on childcare this year compared to 45% pre-pandemic in 2019. This increase in costs has caused a quarter (25%) of parents to change jobs, slightly more than a quarter (26%) to reduce their work hours and is a likely contributor to causing millions of women to leave the workforce over the course of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen it comes to childcare, there are three critical criteria \u2013 cost, quality and availability \u2013 and based on our research findings, we\u2019ve not only failed to make progress<\/em> as a country, we’ve actually gone backwards,\u201d said Natalie Mayslich, President, Consumer, Care.com. \u201cCosts are growing while availability is shrinking and that\u2019s having a profound impact on the workforce and consumer spending. We\u2019ve all seen what happens when parents can\u2019t work; making childcare more affordable and accessible has to be a priority for all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CARE.COM 2022 COST OF CARE SURVEY INSIGHTS<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The economic impact of childcare costs<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents are adjusting significant aspects of their lives to accommodate rising childcare costs, moves that have a broader economic impact. On the work front, of the parents surveyed, 31% are considering taking on a second job, 26% reduced hours at work, 25% have changed jobs, and 21% have left the workforce entirely. When it comes to consumer spending, the majority of families (68%) budget for childcare costs and nearly two-thirds (65%) say they will stay within or under budget. However, nearly all families are scaling back with 91% of respondents reporting having trimmed at least one item to pay for increased childcare costs. Families are reducing budgets for vacations and travel (51%), leisure activities (51%), food and dining (45%), clothing (41%), and extracurriculars (37%). And, not surprisingly, rising childcare costs are even impacting family planning with 35% reporting they\u2019re less likely to have more children, and 43% citing the rising cost of childcare as the main reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic effect<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Childcare costs have been on the rise for some time, but the pandemic sparked greater increases in a two-year period than have occurred since 2015. Here is how childcare costs have increased since before the pandemic began in 2019*<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n