PHOENIX — If you have ever needed it, you already know childcare is expensive. Depending on where you live and your financial situation the impact that expense has on you can vary.
Each year the Annie E Casey Foundation puts out the “Kids Count Data Book.”
It's a report on childcare costs as well as trends in child well-being across the country. The report says the average cost of toddler-aged childcare in Arizona is $10,883 for facilities and $6,253 for home-based care. While these figures are close to the national averages, the chunk it takes out of income varies by economic situation. For single mothers in Arizona, childcare is a much larger burden. Almost a third of their income goes to facility childcare for toddlers, or almost one-fifth for home-based care.
It's less for married couples, 11% for facility care, and 6% for home-based care.
One area where Arizona is hit hardest is in the share of families who made job changes due to childcare problems. The state is at the bottom along with Vermont and North Carolina. Sixteen percent of families in those states needed to make a job change they likely did not want to make due to childcare problems.
States where this occurred less often, compared to others, include Nebraska, Georgia, South Dakota, and Louisiana.
The report also includes data on the well-being of children at the national level. Sixteen indicators were compared to previous years in four categories: economic, education, health, and family well-being. Most indicators fell from year to year. In the category of educational well-being, the percentage of young children, aged 3 and 4, not in school rose from 53% to 54%. Fourth graders not proficient in reading rose from 66% to 68%. Eighth graders not proficient in math rose from 67% to 74%. The only indicator to remain the same in prior years was high school students not graduating on time.
The foundation combined the scores in all four categories for each state and ranked them by overall well-being. Arizona ranked 39th overall. Other low-ranked states include Nevada, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The highest-ranked states were mostly found in New England but also included Utah and Minnesota.
