A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reports the dire impact that COVID-19 is having on child care – many options are closed and prices are rising. According to the article:
“Working parents going on six months without school or camp are about to take another hit: rising child-care costs. Parents with school-age children are hiring sitters or paying for online classes they wouldn’t need if their children were in school. Some are lining up tutors or switching to private schools that plan to open for in-person learning. Parents with younger children are bracing for potentially higher charges at their child cares, which are straining to pay for protective gear and additional cleaning.”
“Even under normal circumstances, paying for child care can be a struggle. Child care for a single child can easily cost $10,000 a year—about the average price of tuition and fees for a year at a public, in-state university—and more in big cities. The cost of child care and nursery school has risen at roughly twice the pace of inflation since 2000, according to the federal Consumer Price Index.”
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