In the United States, high-quality child care is prohibitively expensive. The best option could cost about $2,000 per month, with a long waitlist. This burden falls most heavily on mothers, who are more likely to leave their jobs to care for children. As a result, the gap in employment rates between mothers with college degrees and those who don’t has widened. For mothers without college degrees, a day without work is often a day without pay. Even for those who can afford child care, the cost is overwhelming. The Department of Health and Human Services defines affordable child care as costing no more than 7% of a household budget, but a Labor Department study found fewer than 50 American counties where a family earning the median household income could obtain child care at an affordable price.