A new study by the Economic Policy Institute finds that
in 33 states, including Michigan, infant care costs exceed the average cost of
in-state college tuition at public 4-year institutions.

The labor-backed EPI found that in Metro Detroit, child
care costs for two pre-school kids — an infant and a 4 year old — eat up 27 percent of the average
family budget. For Detroit area parents with a 4 year old and an 8 year old, the tab is 18.5
percent of monthly income.

By compiling data from 618 areas across the nation — on
child care costs, family incomes and the local cost of living — EPI concluded
that only a handful of those areas have child care affordability of 10 percent
or less of monthly income, which is the standard recommended by the Department
of Health and Human Services.

Other findings:

* EPI’s basic family budget threshold for a two-parent,
two-child family ranges from $49,114 (Morristown, Tennessee) to $106,493
(Washington, D.C.). In the median family budget area for this family type (Des
Moines, Iowa), a two-parent, two-child family needs $63,741 to attain a modest
yet adequate standard of living.

* Across regions and family types, child care costs account
for the greatest variability in family budgets. Monthly child care costs for a
household with one child (a 4-year-old) range from $344 in rural South Carolina
to $1,472 in Washington, D.C.

* As a share of total family budgets, center-based child
care for single-parent families with two children (ages 4 and 8) ranges from
11.7 percent in New Orleans to 33.7 percent in Buffalo, New York.

* Among families with two children (a 4-year-old and an
8-year-old), child care costs exceed rent in 500 out of 618 family budget
areas. For two-child families, child care costs range from about half as much
as rent in San Francisco to nearly three times rent in Binghamton, New York.

 

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