Daycare Costs Exceed College Tuition in North Carolina
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Parents across North Carolina are increasingly faced with tough decisions as the pandemic continues to disrupt child care throughout the state.
Before the pandemic, the Centers for American Progress estimated 42% of children in North Carolina younger than 5 didn’t live in an area with enough child-care options.
“The problems that we have always had in child care have just blown up during the pandemic,” said Shanda Sumpter, an early childhood education project director at NC Child. “North Carolina parents do not have enough choices for affordable child care.”
A quarter of parents surveyed in December 2020 said they could not find affordable childcare, according to a report from the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation.
“Programs and classrooms are closing, the pipeline for teachers is collapsing because they can earn more working at Target, believe it or not, and all those things mean fewer choices for parents and fewer childcare options that they can afford,” Sumpter explained. She said around 80% of programs in the state are reporting a staffing shortage.
Decreasing providers make options for care limited and when there are options, the cost can be astronomical.
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