Daycare cost st louis: St. Louis-area parents face increasing costs and decreasing options
St. Louis-area parents face increasing costs and decreasing options
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) – It’s being called a childcare crisis. Local parents say quality childcare is almost impossible to find and frightening to have to afford. It’s a pre-pandemic problem that experts say is much worse now.
In fact, Kelly Remick says stress is overshadowing the joy of being a new mom.
“It’s been really tough,” says Kelly.
The University City mom has struggled to find childcare she can afford when she goes back to work.
“It shouldn’t be this complicated,” she says.
Kelly got on several daycare waitlists when she was just six weeks pregnant. Months after her child Logan was born, she still didn’t have a spot.
“If I can find someone who can keep my child alive, I will pay that person to do it,” Kelly says, as she fights back the tears. “You shouldn’t have to struggle to raise a kid, if that’s what you want to do.”
Kelly is far from alone. Ask any parent of young kids and it’s all they want to talk about. Experts say because of the pandemic, the childcare crisis around the country is getting worse, with demand far outweighing supply.
In fact, Missouri officials say compared to pre-pandemic data, there has been a 30% reduction in childcare facilities, with experts adding that both centers and in-home providers have been shutting their doors.
It’s so bad that more than half of Missourians live in what’s known as a childcare desert. 64% of Missouri’s counties either have no childcare providers at all or three times as many kids needing care as there are spots available. Black, brown and rural communities, experts say, are often disproportionately impacted by the lack of care.
“The cost of childcare has been increasing rapidly over the past several decades,” says Zane Mokhiber of the Economic Policy Institute. The bottom line, experts say, is also a big part of the problem.
The non-profit Economic Policy Institute put together an interactive site, showing the average annual cost of infant care in Missouri is now more than $10,000.
That’s 4% more than the average cost of housing and nearly 20% more than in-state tuition for a four-year college.
In Illinois, it’s even more expensive. The average annual cost of infant care in the Land of Lincoln is almost $13,800, which is15% more than the average cost of housing and about the same as college tuition.
“Childcare costs are a significant portion of most families’ budgets,” Mokhiber adds. But despite high costs for parents, providers say they are far from flush with cash.
“Our supplies have gone up. Our food has gone up incredibly. It’s very expensive,” says Maggie Gray. She runs Brainy Tots Bilingual Preschool out of her home in Florissant.
Licensed and accredited, the kids get an education and quality care in a small setting and at a much lower cost than a larger, traditional childcare center.
“We are always a lower-cost option because we would put ourselves out of the equation if we charged higher fees,” she says. But like all providers, Maggie struggles to retain staff—and make ends meet.
“The moment we lose a child, things get tighter, because we don’t have a lot of wiggle room.
Still, while other centers are backed up, she has open spots.
“The view of the home care provider is someone not well prepared, or well-educated,” Maggie says.
A stigma she battles by focusing on the whole child.
“That little guy still needs to learn to put on socks and shoes,” says Maggie.
Some parents choose even cheaper options, although that, she says, makes her worry.
“The first three years are so essential, she says. “But if we spend them watching TV, that’s just not good enough.”
The cost and availability of childcare, experts say, are causing many parents, particularly women, to simply stay home.
One recent study, published by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, finds Missouri’s economy is missing out on $1.35 billion due to childcare issues, with 28% of people reporting they, or someone in their household, has left a job, not taken a job or changed jobs because of childcare problems in the last 12 months.
But there are solutions, experts say, to the complicated childcare equation. Increasing public funding for early childhood development, for one. Plus, workplaces that offer flexible hours, pre-tax benefits for dependent care and even on-site childcare.
“To have an on-site daycare right across the street from where you work, it’s just a nice peace of mind,” says Angela Schneider.
Angela works for Purina in downtown St. Louis, which has offered on-site daycare for 30 years.
“It’s convenience, the education these kids are getting, the safety while they are here. Also, it is the community we have within the employee base,” Angela says.
There are no waitlists there, just quality care. It’s a welcome relief for working parents trying to balance it all.
Back in University City, Kelly finally got word that Logan will have a daycare spot in June.
“I know we are in a lucky position but not all families are like this,” says Kelly.
The childcare equation gets even more difficult for families with multiple kids, and experts say, it’s often hardest in communities of color and for single moms.
Many people have to rely on a combination of care, including grandparents or other caregivers, just to get by.
Parents can find a lot more resources from Child Care Aware of Missouri.
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- Missouri Child Care Costs:…
As a parent or a child care provider who is a raising a child or multiple children in Missouri, it is incredibly important to understand the exact cost of child care within the state that you are residing within. Paying for childcare expenses is one of the largest costs that parents and child care providers need to worry about, especially within the state of Missouri. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average cost of child care for an infant child costs more than $800 a month, making struggling parents and child care figures worry about how they can possibly afford these outrageous child care fees.
Becoming extremely familiar with the amount of funds that are needed to ensure that your child is being accurately watched and cared for while you are away at work is important. Acquiring this important knowledge can assist you in finding the absolute best value of child care at a price that you can afford, in order to accurately care for your entire family.
Within this article, we will be taking an in-depth look at the child care costs within the entire state of Missouri and the top five cities within that state. The three key pieces of information that we will utilize when discussing the child care costs within the state of Missouri are:
- The average monthly child care costs for a child when they are within their infancy stage and when they are four-years-old.
- How affordable child care is and an analysis of this affordability for families and minimum wage workers
- Any other information that parents and child care providers need to have, in regard to the cost of the care that they will be providing to their child.
Monthly Child Care Costs For The Entire State of Missouri:
When parents or child care providers decide to put their infant child or infant children (which are children that are classified as being between the ages of 0 to 24 months) into child care, they are spending an average of $837 per month, which is an incredibly high price that they care takers need to pay. For children that are a little older, such as a four-year-old child, the cost of child care will slightly decrease to about $584 per month, which is still a high amount that the parent or child care provider needs to pay, in order to have their child accurately looked after and cared for.
When looking at average amount of income per household within the state of Missouri, it is shown that average households earn about $4,500 a month. This means that these households have to spend almost 18.5% of their total income on child care for just one child. This number isn’t eve incorporating the amount of extra expenses that the parents or child care providers might run into, such as filling up their gas tanks to dive their child or children to and from the child care facility, clothes for their child or children to wear, food for the child or children to eat while within child care, and other miscellaneous expenses that might come up that are directly stemming from the child care facility itself.
Monthly Child Care Costs For The Top Five Most Populated Cities In Missouri:
Monthly child care costs can vary, especially when it comes to which city you are living in. Here, we will break down the average amount of fees that parents living within Missouri’s top five cities need to pay for quality child care services.
- Kansas City Child Care: Kansas City is the most populated city within the state of Missouri, with a total city population of 465,005. In Kansas City, the average annual price of child care services is $9,454.
- St. Louis Child Care: St. Louis is the second most populated city within the state of Missouri with a total population of 318,727. In St. Louis, the average annual price of child care services is $9,456, making it not too far off from the price in Kansas City.
- Springfield Child Care: Springfield is the third largest city in the state of Missouri, with a total population of 162,333.
