Nicole Slemp, a dedicated secretary for Washington’s child services department, eagerly anticipated returning to work after the birth of her son. However, the daunting expense of child care shattered her plans. The best option came with a hefty price tag of $2,000 per month and a lengthy waitlist, while even the most affordable option at $1,600 would consume most of her salary. Her husband’s earnings, combined with hers, exceeded the income threshold for government assistance, leaving them in a financial quandary.
Slemp’s dilemma mirrors a common struggle faced by countless parents across the United States. The lack of accessible and affordable child care programs poses a significant obstacle for mothers seeking to balance their careers and family responsibilities. In 2022, a staggering percentage of parents were forced to quit, decline job offers, or significantly alter their work arrangements due to child care challenges.
This burden falls most heavily on mothers, who traditionally shoulder more childcare responsibilities and are more likely to leave the workforce. Despite women’s increasing presence in the workforce, reaching historic highs in December 2023, a lingering crisis persists for women like Slemp who lack college degrees. The employment gap between mothers with and without four-year degrees has only widened, further exacerbating economic disparities.
For mothers without college degrees, a day without work often means a day without pay, rendering them particularly vulnerable to financial setbacks. When faced with inadequate or unaffordable child care options, they are more likely to take unpaid time off or even leave their jobs altogether, according to an analysis of Census survey data by The Associated Press in partnership with the Education Reporting Collaborative.
Interviews with mothers across the country paint a disheartening picture of how the seemingly endless search for affordable child care leaves them feeling defeated and despairing. It derails career paths, robs them of a sense of purpose, and plunges them into financial distress.
Women like Slemp challenge the stereotypical image of the stay-at-home mom as an affluent woman with a high-earning partner, said Jessica Calarco, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The stay-at-home moms in this country are disproportionately mothers who’ve been pushed out of the workforce because they don’t make enough to make it work financially to pay for child care,” Calarco said. Her research indicates that three-quarters of stay-at-home moms live in households with incomes less than $50,000, and half have household incomes below $25,000.
The high cost of child care has even upended the careers of mothers with college degrees. When Jane Roberts gave birth in November, she and her husband, both teachers, realized that sending their baby to daycare was simply not feasible financially. The expense was prohibitive, and they were concerned about the availability of quality care in their hometown of Pocatello, Idaho. The school district lacked adequate staffing, forcing Roberts to exhaust her sick leave and personal days to stay home with her son. In March, she returned to work while her husband took leave. By the end of the school year, they will have missed out on a combined nine weeks of pay. To make ends meet, they have resorted to borrowing against Jane’s life insurance policy. In the fall, Roberts has made the wrenching decision to leave teaching. “I’ve devoted my entire adult life to this profession,” she said.
For low- and middle-income women who do find child care arrangements, the costs can be overwhelming. The Department of Health and Human Services defines “affordable” child care as an arrangement that consumes no more than 7% of a household budget. However, a Labor Department study found that fewer than 50 American counties offer child care at an “affordable” price for families earning the median household income.
The expense of child care has a direct impact on the number of mothers working. A 10% increase in the median price of child care was associated with a 1% drop in the labor force participation rate of mothers, according to the Labor Department.
In Birmingham, Alabama, single mother Adriane Burnett earns approximately $2,800 per month as a customer service representative. Over a third of her income goes toward child care expenses for her 3-year-old child. When her child aged out of a program that provided subsidies, she was forced to take on additional work as a delivery driver for DoorDash and Uber Eats. To make the deliveries possible, her 14-year-old child has to babysit. Despite her efforts, Burnett has filed for bankruptcy and lost her car due to missed payments. She now relies on her father’s car to continue her delivery gigs. The financial stress and guilt over missing time with her children have taken a toll on her health, causing panic attacks and fainting spells at work. “My kids need me,” Burnett said, “but I also have to work.”
Even for parents who can afford child care, the search for reliable and affordable options can be an all-consuming endeavor. When Daizha Rioland was five months pregnant with her first child, she posted in a Facebook group for Dallas moms that she was looking for child care. Several responses warned her that she was already behind if she wasn’t on any waitlists. As an educated woman with a bachelor’s degree and a job in communications for a nonprofit organization, Rioland sought a racially diverse program with a strong curriculum. While her daughter remained on waitlists, Rioland’s parents stepped in to provide care. Finally, her daughter reached the top of a waiting list—at 18 months old. The tuition was so high that she could only attend part-time. Rioland got her second daughter on waiting lists long before she was born, and she now attends a center Rioland trusts. “I’ve grown up in Dallas. I see what happens when you’re not afforded the luxury of high-quality education,” said Rioland, who is Black. “For my daughters, that’s not going to be the case.”
Slemp still wonders how she ended up staying home with her son – a time she cherishes but finds disorienting. She had thought she was doing well. After working at a water park and a call center, her state job seemed like a step toward financial stability. How could maintaining her career be so difficult when everything else seemed to be going right? “Our country is doing nothing to try and help,” Slemp said. As a parent, “we’re supposed to keep the population going, and they’re not giving us a chance to provide for our kids to be able to do that.” Carly Flandro of Idaho Education News, Valeria Olivares of The Dallas Morning News, and Alaina Bookman of Alabama Media Group contributed to this report. Balingit reported from Washington, D.C., and Lurye from New Orleans.
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