St. Louis Fed, Report: Child Care, Critical to the Economy but Difficult to Access and Afford

“Child care is critical to the nation’s workforce. Yet access to high-quality care is inequitable, and the cost, especially for licensed child care, is steep for many families. Additionally, many parents simply cannot find child care that meets their needs, limiting their ability to work. When the child care sector does not fully meet the demand for care, it limits parents’ ability to work, which in turn affects the broader economy.”

“This blog post explores the importance of child care to the workforce and the access and affordability barriers that parents face. These problems are especially prevalent for parents with nontraditional hours (work that falls outside of the 9-to-5 schedule) or unstable schedules. In this post, we also share parental perspectives on accessibility and affordability.”