Average day care cost: The request could not be satisfied

NC ranks last in child care cost in new report, state struggles with funding

In a recent report published by WalletHub using 51 different indicators, North Carolina was ranked the 39th best state to raise a family.

When adjusting for median family income, North Carolina ranked last in terms of child care cost. The average annual cost of child care in North Carolina is $9,255 for an infant and $7,592 for a 4-year-old.

According to the NC Early Education Coalition, only 26.7 percent of families can afford care without exceeding the federal recommendation of spending no more than 10 percent of family income on child care.

Child care subsidies ensure children’s access to quality education and allow parents to work, benefitting businesses, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services‘ Division of Child Development and Early Education said in an email.

“Strengthening the availability and accessibility of early care and learning across the state supports families, businesses and communities,” the department said in the email.

While child care subsidies exist, there are 30,000 children aged 5 and under on the waitlist. According to the NCEEC, low-income parents without access to assistance spend over one-third of their total yearly income on care.

Elaine Zukerman, the advocacy and communications director for the NCEEC, said parents can wait for up to two years on waitlists to get a spot.

The NCEEC classifies North Carolina as a “child care desert,” with an average of over five families competing for every one available licensed child care slot statewide.

Families that rely on child care in order to work depend on these programs. Statewide, over two-thirds of children under six live in households where all parents work.

Licensed child care programs for infants and toddlers are currently only able to serve 18.7 percent of the infant-toddler population.

Zukerman said rural counties are especially impacted by this lack of child care, with some counties having no options available — especially for infants and toddlers.

Lack of compensation for teachers

The NCEEC found that low compensation for early education workers is the number one reason workers are leaving the early childhood field. Child care teachers earn $12 per hour on average, and one in five do not have health insurance.

Zukerman said young children’s development is reliant on stable relationships with their teachers. According to the NCEEC, low teacher compensation has resulted in fewer early educators entering the field, and one in three qualified teachers are reported to leave the field within the next three years.

Anna Mercer-McLean, the director of the Community School for People under Six, said child care teachers’ salaries should be competitive with those of public school teachers. She said teachers must be taken care of financially to provide high-quality care for children.

Zukerman said problems with child care cannot be resolved until the underlying issue of teacher compensation is addressed. To accomplish this, she said, funding is going to be necessary, and that there is a large enough surplus in the state budget to provide it.

“We can afford to do it,” Zukerman said. “We really can’t afford not to do it.”

Zukerman said women of color make up much of the child-care workforce, and the NCEEC is advocating for the extension of the Child Care Stabilization Grants through June 2025 to support care providers.

The grants, announced in 2021 by Gov. Roy Cooper, used American Rescue Plan funding to subsidize child care. Zukerman said this grant allowed providers to increase salaries for teachers in every program throughout the state.

Zukerman said the coalition is also advocating for the expansion of a program called Child Care WAGE$, which seeks to improve the recruitment and retention of teachers and stabilize the workforce in the field. The program supports educators who either have worked or are working toward a degree in early education by providing salary supplements.

Mercer-McLean said more continuity is needed in receiving funding, as payments often do not arrive on time. Funding, she said, is also necessary to account for the increase in cost of food following the pandemic and to maintain the enrollment of children.

“We are here not because of the money, but in order to be here, we have to have funding to be able to support what we do,” Mercer-McLean said.

Zukerman said that child care impacts everybody, whether they know it or not. Child care, according to Zukerman, is needed by workers in all industries, and creates a foundation for supporting the next generation of North Carolinians.

@madelynvanmeter

@DTHCityState | [email protected]

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New Childcare Data Shows Prices Are Untenable for Families

Filed in

•
By:
Christin Landivar
• January 24, 2023

Families with younger children in the United States pay a lot of money for child care. Whether it is after-school care or full-day care for infants, child care consumes a large share of family income among those who pay for childcare services.  

The National Database of Childcare Prices is a new source of data showing how prices vary by childcare provider type and children’s age in 2,360 counties across 47 states. This makes the database the most comprehensive source of local childcare price data. Using the database, the Women’s Bureau released a new report today that shows childcare prices vary substantially across the country, but prices are untenable for families even in lower-priced areas. Using the most recent data available from 2018 and adjusted for inflation to 2022 dollars, childcare prices range from $4,810 ($5,357 in 2022 dollars) for school-age home-based care in small counties to $15,417 ($17,171 in 2022 dollars) for infant center-based care in very large counties. These prices represent between 8% and 19. 3% of median family income per child.  

Two new interactive maps show childcare prices and childcare prices as a share of family income at the county level. These maps show that in nearly every county, childcare prices were high relative to family income, pricing families out of paid child care. Higher childcare prices are especially detrimental to maternal employment as mothers’ employment drops in areas with more expensive child care, even in places where women’s wages are higher.   

Even though child care is expensive, childcare providers operate on thin margins and childcare workers receive very low wages – a median of $13.22 an hour. This is lower than almost any other occupation, and wages fall below the living wage in most states, failing to meet childcare workers’ basic needs. Low pay in the childcare sector means that employers cannot attract sufficient workers and many areas are considered childcare deserts, leaving families with limited options. Yet, families cannot afford to pay more, meaning the childcare sector needs substantial government investment to function adequately and eventually prosper. Quality, affordable, accessible childcare supports higher employment and full-time work hours, reduces poverty, and reduces socioeconomic disparities in employment and early care and education. 

Learn more about the National Database of Childcare Prices, download our data, and explore the maps at: dol.gov/agencies/wb/topics/childcare.  

Christin Landivar is a senior researcher at the Women’s Bureau. Follow the bureau on Twitter at @WB_DOL. 

Tags:

• Women’s Bureau
• working women
• working families
• child care
• cost of child care
• child care workers
• data

Article 7.

Amount of temporary disability benefit \ ConsultantPlus

Article 7. Amount of temporary disability benefit

ConsultantPlus: note.

Benefits for the payment of benefits for temporary disability established by the Federal Law of 10.01.2002 N 2-FZ.

1. Temporary disability benefit in case of disability due to illness or injury, except for the cases specified in paragraph 2 of this article, during quarantine, prosthetics for medical reasons and treatment in sanatorium-and-spa organizations immediately after the provision of medical care in a hospital is paid in the following size:

(as amended by Federal Laws No. 317-FZ of November 25, 2013, No. 126-FZ of April 30, 2021)

(see the text in the previous edition)

1) to an insured person with an insurance record of 8 or more years , – 100 percent of average earnings;

2) for an insured person with an insurance record of 5 to 8 years – 80 per cent of average earnings;

3) for an insured person with up to 5 years of insurance experience – 60 per cent of average earnings.

2. Temporary disability benefit in case of disability due to illness or injury is paid to insured persons in the amount of 60 percent of the average earnings in case of illness or injury occurring within 30 calendar days after the termination of work under an employment contract, official or other activity, within which they are subject to compulsory social insurance in case of temporary disability and in connection with motherhood.

(as amended by Federal Law No. 343-FZ of 08.12.2010)

(see the text in the previous edition)

ConsultantPlus: note.

Benefits for the payment of benefits for the care of a sick child are established by Federal Laws of 10.01.2002 N 2-FZ, of 17.09.1998 N 157-FZ, of 15.05.1991 N 1244-1.

3. Temporary disability allowance in case of need to care for a sick child is paid:

1) in case of caring for a sick child under the age of 8 – in the amount of 100 per cent of average earnings;

2) in case of caring for a sick child aged 8 years and older:

a) in case of outpatient treatment of a child – for the first 10 calendar days in the amount determined depending on the duration of the insurance period of the insured person in accordance with part 1 of this article, for the following days in the amount of 50 percent of the average earnings;

b) when treating a child in a hospital (day hospital) – in the amount determined depending on the duration of the insurance experience of the insured person in accordance with part 1 of this article.

(Part 3 as amended by Federal Law No. 151-FZ of May 26, 2021)

(see the text in the previous edition)

conditions, with the exception of cases of caring for a sick child, is paid in the amount determined depending on the duration of the insurance period of the insured person in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article.

(as amended by Federal Laws No. 317-FZ dated November 25, 2013, No. 49 dated December 31, 20145-FZ)

(see the text in the previous version)

5. Lost force on January 1, 2010. – Federal Law of July 24, 2009 N 213-FZ.

(see the text in the previous wording)

and localities in which district wage coefficients are applied in accordance with the established procedure, in an amount not exceeding the minimum wage, taking into account these coefficients, except for the case specified in clause 1 of part 3 of this article.

(as amended by Federal Law No. 151-FZ of May 26, 2021)

(see the text in the previous edition)

for the period of downtime is paid in the same amount in which wages are maintained during this time, but not more than the amount of temporary disability benefit that the insured person would receive under the general rules.

(Part 7 as amended by Federal Law No. 343-FZ of 08.12.2010)

(see the text in the previous edition)

Children’s paid hospital in Moscow

We arrived by ambulance at 4 in the morning, the child had a temperature of 39 and there was a suspicion of pneumonia. We were immediately accepted and began to provide assistance, after 15 minutes the child was already given droppers. I want to express my deep gratitude to the nurse Igolnikova Zinaida, who took tests, droppers with such attention, and thanks to her light hand, after 3 days we were already at home. My son still asks to see her on a drip. Many thanks to the head of the therapeutic department Vasina Alexandra Alexandrovna. We didn’t even know that there is a hospital in the clinics, this is the place where they really help children.

I want to express my gratitude to the SM-clinic for the excellent service and hospitality. My son was operated on by a wonderful magician and master of his craft, Nikita Valerievich Demin, he is the best pediatric surgeon, he is a professional in his field! I chose a pediatric surgeon for a very, very long time, rummaged through the entire Internet and finally found our savior, our hero! I highly, highly recommend to all mothers who need the help of a pediatric surgeon only him. The clinic staff themselves speak of him with delight, one nurse told me that when she saw his work, she was simply stunned by the gorgeous result, she had worked in pediatric surgery for 20 years and had never seen such jewelry work as Demin N.V.
Many thanks to Dr. Ladygina Elizaveta Alexandrovna, who took a great part in the operation.
Separately, I want to thank the wonderful anesthesiologist Ilya Vladimirovich for his kindness, attention and professionalism. Before the operation, he thoroughly studied all the tests, told me everything about anesthesia and rehabilitation, visited several times and asked if everything was fine with us.
Many thanks to the doctor-Vinnikova Maria Sergeevna for her responsiveness, care and kindness. We were in the hospital for 10 days and all 10 days she took care of us.
We are very grateful to Karpenko Natalya Andreevna for her constant care and willingness to help, I turned to her many times on various issues and she always answered instantly, immediately finding a way out. It was very pleasant to communicate and meet with her, she was always positive, good-natured and a professional in her field.
I want to mention the two best nurses – Laura and Natalia, these girls come to work with pleasure and bring joy to mothers who need help and support. When there was their shift, I knew for sure that the care would be the best. They exude positivity and kindness. Unfortunately, I didn’t see and didn’t feel any care from the rest of the nurses, all the time I had to be reminded and asked to do what they were supposed to do automatically, it was clear that they just needed to "work out" change and go home.