Image zoom Credit: Getty Images (1). Art: Jillian Sellers.
In the year since the pandemic hit, the devastating effect it has had on America s families is no secret. Another new report is looking at just how much families are struggling.
Save the Children, an international humanitarian organization founded more than 100 years ago, released a report in March 2021 looking at four months of data from the U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse survey to see how the pandemic is affecting families with kids under 18 across the United States. The report found disparities based on socioeconomic status, race, and location.
It looked at all 50 states to see where children are faring best and worst by focusing on three main components: hunger, lack of tools for remote learning, and trouble paying for household expenses. The best states for children include Minnesota, Utah, Washington, and New Hampshire. The worst st
The cost of child care has long been a struggle for many families around the country, and the struggle has only become worse during the pandemic.
Just how much worse? Center-based child care costs have spiked 41 percent, according to a report from LendingTree, which analyzed data from a September 2020 report from the Center for American Progress and Child Care Aware of America. That s $14,117 compared to $9,977 before the pandemic.
Families in certain states are feeling the impact even more. Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana have seen the largest child care costs increases for kids 3 and 4 years old, the report finds. For example, in Louisiana, child care costs jumped from $6,546 to $13,810 per kid. In the meantime, parents in Indiana and Vermont with kids younger than 5 were found to be putting the highest percentage of their income toward child care 20 and 19 percent respectively.