<br><div><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el" aria-label="Video - Why child care remains one of the biggest costs for American families"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">A new report says American families that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lendingtree.com/debt-consolidation/child-care-income-study/" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a" rel="noopener">pay for child care</a> spend nearly one-fifth of their income on the service, and costs are rising.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">The average household with child care bills spends $325 a week, or 18.6% of its weekly income, according to an analysis by LendingTree, a personal finance site.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">In Nevada, the costliest child care state, families spend 32.3% of their income, an average of $493 a week, for others to tend their children, the report says.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">LendingTree released the<a target="_blank" href="https://www.lendingtree.com/debt-consolidation/child-care-income-study/" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a" rel="noopener"> analysis</a> last month, drawing on census data.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Child care expenses eat up more than one-fifth of parental income in eight other states, including Illinois, Louisiana and Texas, the report found.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><strong>Learn more:</strong> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":body nav (cd)|e|auto spike click:5|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a" href="https://www.usatoday.com/money/blueprint/banking/cds/best-cd-rates/">Best current CD rates</a></p><figure class="gnt_em gnt_em_img"><img class="gnt_em_img_i" style="height:440px" fetchpriority="high" data-g-r="lazy" src="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/01/30/USAT/72414282007-getty-images-1453837306.jpg?width=660&height=440&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp" srcset="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/01/30/USAT/72414282007-getty-images-1453837306.jpg?width=1320&height=880&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp 2x" decoding="async" alt="Two young toddlers sit on the carpet in a home daycare as they play together with toy animals and blocks."/></figure><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_mt">'It felt like a necessity'</h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Child care costs pushed Morgan Frey out of her Sparks, Nevada, home.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Frey, 31, was paying $245 a week on child care for her son, who is now 5. That was half of her take-home pay, from her job as a caregiver to seniors. In February 2023, poverty forced her and her son into a homeless shelter.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">"It was really hard," she said. "And, honestly, the decision to keep him in school came down to knowing it was best for him. It felt like a necessity."</p><figure class="gnt_em gnt_em_img gnt_em_img__inset"><img class="gnt_em_img_i" style="height:400px" fetchpriority="high" data-g-r="lazy" src="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/04/19/USAT/73388817007-img-0910.jpeg?width=300&height=400&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp" srcset="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/04/19/USAT/73388817007-img-0910.jpeg?width=600&height=800&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp 2x" decoding="async" alt="Morgan Frey, 31, was paying half of her take-home pay on child care for her son at a preschool in Sparks, Nevada. Last year, a local nonprofit swept in to pick up the bill."/></figure><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Relief arrived the next month. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.childrenscabinet.org/" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a" rel="noopener">Children's Cabinet</a>, a Nevada nonprofit, swept in to pick up Frey's child care costs. In June 2023, she and her son moved into a new home.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">"I have enough money to put gas in the car, food on the table," she said.</p><aside aria-label="advertisement" class="gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Only now does Frey realize how stressed out she had become over child care...</p></div> <style> .wrapper { text-align: center; } </style> <div class="wrapper"> <a class="button" href ="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/04/21/child-care-costs-rise-take-more-income/73355358007/">Read more <span>➤</span></a> </div>
