2011 The Palm Beach County Family Study (Full Report)

Costs of Preschool ChildcareWhen asked if they pay for their childcare, half of the mothers using childcare reported that they pay allor some of their children’s childcare costs. Among the other 50 percent of mothers who reported notpaying for childcare, about two-thirds do not pay because they receive a childcare subsidy through FamilyCentral or financial assistance from a social service agency, relative, or other individual. Most of theremaining mothers who do not pay for childcare reported placing their children in the care of relatives.The qualitative data suggest these mothers may pay small amounts to reimburse relatives for childcare;for example, mothers talked about paying their mother or a sister $100 on an occasional basis or givingher money for gas, bus fare, or food in exchange for caring for their children.The amounts mothers paid for childcare on a regular basis ranged from as little as $5 per week to as muchas $275 per week, amounts that are similar to those reported in the fourth year. 36 The average weekly costof childcare reported by mothers was $70, which is slightly higher than what was reported in year 4 ($67).Based on these figures, we estimate that families who pay for some or all of their childcare spend from aslittle as $20 to as much as $1,100 per month for all children in care. Although these monthly costestimates were not adjusted to the numbers of hours per week children are in care, most children are incare on a full-time basis. The monthly average of childcare costs reported by mothers in the fifth year wasapproximately $280, slightly down from $297 in the previous year. To obtain a rough estimate of theproportion of family income these mothers spent on childcare, we calculated the percentage of themidpoint of the family’s reported income range for the previous year spent on childcare. Based on thiscalculation, the study families spent approximately 14 percent of their yearly income on childcare. 37More than half of the mothers using childcare in the fifth year reported receiving some financialassistance to help pay for that care. One-third of the mothers using childcare reported having a childcaresubsidy, which is significantly more than the 29 percent who reported receiving the subsidy in year 4. Anadditional 22 percent of mothers using childcare in year 5 obtained financial help from a social serviceagency. A small percentage (5%) said they received help from an individual, such as a friend or relative;only four mothers (2%) reported receiving assistance with childcare expenses from an employer. Again,this financial assistance was linked to the type of childcare arrangement mothers provided for their focalchild. As shown in Table 40, mothers who received a subsidy were much more likely to have their focal36 Interviewers reported that mothers sometimes had difficulty figuring the amount they pay for childcare, and some of thefigures reported for childcare seemed high in relation to household incomes. At the same time, although estimates vary, studiesindicate that low-income families spend a greater proportion—20 percent or more—of their income on childcare than do familieswith higher incomes (e.g., Chase et al., 2005; Henly & Lyons, 2000; Koppelman, 2002).37 One mother reported spending 274 percent of her yearly income on childcare and was excluded from this analysis.Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago 66