It’s Official: Childcare Now Costs More than Rent

While most New Yorkers complain about the price of rent (and rightfully so), parents know that the real budget buster can be the cost of childcare. Between babysitters, nannies and daycare, figuring out who can care for your child(ren) while you’re at work is a stress on parents both emotionally and financially. And a new research paper from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has confirmed just that, finding that in most parts of the U.S., families spend more on childcare than they do on rent, according to Fortune.com.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that in order to be considered affordable, childcare should account for no more than 10 percent of a family’s budget. But these costs can actually comprise more than 30 percent. In fact, the EPI study found that in 33 states, childcare costs more than sending a child to college—as long as the school is public and in-state.

“How are young parents supposed to be able to afford the equivalent of a college tuition?” asks Elise Gould, a senior economist at EPI, who spearheaded the research paper. “This is out of reach for many [higher-income] families.”