The surprising number of parents scaling back at work to care for kids
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“Child care is also workforce support,” said Michelle McCready, deputy chief of policy at Child Care Aware of America. “It’s critical for parents and families to have a reliable option so they can work and so they can have a peace of mind while they’re at work.”
Infant care in particular is pricey. The average annual cost of infant-center-based care is virtually the same as the average cost of tuition and fees at a four-year public college, according to the Committee for Economic Development. “No state provides adequate child-care supports to a majority of children under 5,” a recent analysis from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found.