COLUMBUS – The cost of quality child care is a burden that is weighing heavily on Ohio’s lower-paid workers, some of whom find more than half of their income going to take care of their young children.
A new report from the Economic Policy Institute that examines solutions to what the group calls a child-care crisis in America says robust public investments in early childhood care and education would benefit children, families and society.
Caring for a single infant in Ohio costs about $9,000 a year, about 15 percent of the median family budget in the state, says Michael Shields, a researcher with partner organization Policy Matters Ohio. He says that means child care is unaffordable for more than two-thirds of Ohio families.
“Once we start looking at low-income families, the costs really become just insurmountable,” he said. “A minimum-wage worker in the state; someone in that situation is earning about 17 thousand dollars per year and paying out nine thousand for infant care. That’s more than 53 percent of that family’s income.”
Shields says better investments in early childhood care and education at the state and national level would reduce financial hardships for families and give children a foundation for a successful future.
The report recommends expanded public funding for home visits by nurses to help new parents, subsidies for affordable high-quality child care, and publicly funded preschool.
Ohio has programs at the state level to help lower-income families afford child care, but Shields contends Ohio is moving away from increasing access for families with initial eligibility at 135 percent of the poverty level.
He says increasing that assistance to cover families at 200 percent of the poverty level, that would include those earning up to about $40,000 a year.