Rhode Island Ranks as One of the Most Expensive States for Child Care

Rhode Island Ranks as One of the Most Expensive States for Child Care

 

A new report ranks Rhode Island as having among the highest costs for child care in America.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

 

“Child care is extremely expensive in the U.S. A married couple could spend as much as over 13% of their income on child care, while a single parent could have to shell out roughly 51%,” according to WalletHub’s research.

 

“Despite the hefty price tag, paying for child care is often unavoidable. Due to increases in the cost of living and shifts in gender roles over the years, households in which both parents work are commonplace. In fact, both parents are employed in 66.5% of families with children, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and as a result, child care is an essential service for millions of families in the U.S. It’s also a necessity for single parents who don’t have the option to leave children with a partner during the day,” adds WalletHub.

 

Rhode Island ranks 5th in the country for single-parent families and 7th for two-parent families.

 

SEE ALL THE STATE RANKINGS BELOW

 

To identify the states with the highest and lowest child care costs, WalletHub analyzed the prices of family-based and center-based child care and adjusted them by the median income.

 

“It costs a lot of money to take care of a child’s needs, and many parents are left with the dilemma of whether to forgo one salary to do their own child care for the first few years or to shell out a significant chunk of their income for child care services. Married parents who both work can expect to spend as much as 13% of what they earn on child care,” according to Chip Lupo, the research analyst on the report.