OPINION: It’s time for a child care revolution
The cost of living in New York City continues to outstrip incomes, and for too many New Yorkers, the dream of raising a family is getting harder to achieve. Our city’s affordability crisis is fueled by many factors, but the cost of child care — which can be over $21,000 a year for an infant — is one major, underappreciated driver.
With average costs surpassing college tuition and median rent, quality child care is unaffordable for most families, forcing parents to deplete savings, take on debt, and cut back on work — or forgo work altogether. And for parents with low incomes, the stakes are even higher.
Right now, a single mother with a full-time $15 minimum-wage job would have to spend over two-thirds of her income for a market-rate slot in a child care center, leaving her with less than $850 a month for rent, to put food on the table, pay medical bills, and meet other basic needs. The math simply doesn’t add up, and there’s little financial assistance to help solve the equation. Only 7 percent of families with infants and toddlers in the city get any government support to offset the costs now.