Cost of Early Education and Care Remains High «

Cost of Early Education and Care Remains High «:

Cost of Early Education and Care Remains High

September 6, 2011 by Irene Sege

Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

Once again, Massachusetts is among the states with the nation’s least affordable child care according to “Parents and the High Cost of Child Care: 2011 Update,” from the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. NACCRRA measures affordability by comparing cost with the state’s median income. In addition, in straight dollar terms, full-time child care in Massachusetts is the most expensive of the 50 states.

More than 11 million children in the U.S. are in some form of early education and care each week, NACCRRA notes. “In 36 states, the average annual cost for center-based care for an infant was higher than a year’s tuition and related