Care.com Survey Finds One in Three Families Spend 20% or More of Household Income on Child Care

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to the Care.com 2018 Cost of Care Survey, 33% of families now spend 20% or more of their annual household income on child care. Seven in 10 families report paying rates higher than the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ definition of affordable care, while nearly one in five families spends a quarter or more of their household income on child care. And 60% say child care costs have increased in the past year, leading to many families adopting budgeting tactics such as reducing date nights and cutting back on cable. In fact, the fifth annual survey from Care.com (NYSE: CRCM; www.care.com), the world’s largest online destination for finding and managing family care, found that the average weekly rate for a nanny has risen over $100 since 2013. In a year that saw the U.S. fertility rate hit a record low, the survey shows that one in three families (33%) say the cost of child care influenced their family planning, in that they either waited longer to have children or had fewer children than they would have liked because of child care costs.