Every single day in the United States families are faced with not having affordable child care. One of the highlights of our 2018 report, The US and the High Cost of Child Care, is the regional examination that takes a critical look at this issue of equity in child care.

WASHINGTON, DC — Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA)  today released its 12^th annual The US and the High Cost of Child Care: A Review of Prices and Proposed Solutions for a Broken System which found that child care is unaffordable in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia. For 30 years, CCAoA has been the leading voice for quality, affordable child care in the United States. Of note, our findings showed that across all states, the cost of center-based infant care exceeds 27 percent of median household income for single working parents—these impacts were exacerbated for parents and families of color in 2017.

Imagine a world where all children start their lives with high-quality education, where all parents can go to work knowing their child is safe, where the folks doing the important work of teaching our youngest all have access to benefits and fair wages. This is far from our reality today, but this is our vision.

If a relative cares for your children while you work, you may have an ideal child care solution. Who can offer better care than a trusted family member? Like other parents, you may have selected relative care for one or more of the following reasons:

Si un pariente cuida a sus hijos mientras trabaja, usted tal vez haya encontrado una solución ideal para su cuidado. ¿Quién puede ofrecer mejor cuidado que un miembro de confianza de la familia? Al igual que otros padres, usted puede haber seleccionado a un pariente por una o más de las razones siguientes:

Dear Diary,

When I’m attending a conference for work, I’m usually so tired from attending sessions all day that I just grab a quick bite from the hotel’s restaurant and crash in the evening. Plus, I hate eating alone in public. It’s so boring!

But today was different. Tonight, I was invited to meet up with a few other members of Child Care Aware® of America, an organization that I joined a while back. Until now, I’ve not really had an opportunity to meet anyone who works there or network with other members. I was a little unsure of what to expect, but everyone was friendly, and the conversation was good! It was wonderful to meet others with the passion for quality care for children and great to meet other people like me. Now that I think about it, I would have never had conversations with members from other states, and I learned so much! It was insightful and a good time all around.