Child care costs squeeze Virginia families
Why it matters: Rising child care costs put a huge financial strain on families, Axios' Emily Peck reports.
They can force some parents — typically women — to either ratchet back their working hours or leave the labor force entirely.
For single parents, the calculus can be even more painful.
By the numbers: The average annual cost of daycare tuition in Virginia for two children — one toddler and one infant — rose to $30,680 last year, according to data from Child Care Aware, an advocacy group.
That's the highest price tag for child care in the Southeast by far — and roughly $8,000 more a year than it costs in North Carolina.
That's about 32% of the median household annual income in Virginia, based on Census data released in 2024.
Stunning stat: The cost for center-based child care for an infant would eat up 39% of a single parent's salary, per the report.
Meanwhile, the average annual cost of daycare tuition nationwide for two children was $28,168 — about 35% of U.S. median household annual income.
Zoom out: The U.S. doesn't have publicly funded universal childcare.
However, the federal government does put money into the system for low-income kids through block grants to the states, as well as Head Start, the decades-old federal program that provides childcare, nutrition assistance and other services to the nation's poorest families.
There were worries that the White House would stop funding Head Start, but the administration has said that won't happen.
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