Study: R.I. ninth-most-expensive state for child care in U.S.

RHODE ISLAND is the ninth-most expensive state for child care in the nation, according to the Economic Policy Institute. / COURTESY ECONOMIC POLICY GROUP
RHODE ISLAND is the ninth-most expensive state for child care in the nation, according to the Economic Policy Institute. / COURTESY ECONOMIC POLICY GROUP

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island is the ninth-most-expensive state for child care in the nation, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
In the Ocean State, the average annual cost of infant care is $12,867, or $1,072 a month, and the average annual cost of care for a 4-year-old child is $10,040, or $837 a month.
Infant care in Rhode Island costs $2,058 more per year (19 percent) than in-state tuition for a four-year public college, making the Ocean State one of 33 states, along with the District of Columbia, where infant care is more expensive than college.
Infant care also is nearly 16 percent more expensive than average rent, the nonprofit think tank said.
The cost of infant care for one child takes up 19.2 percent of a typical family’s income; the median family income in Rhode Island is $67,119.
The EPI study cited the federal Department of Health and Human Services, which states child care is affordable if it costs no more than 10 percent of a family’s income. It said that according to this standard, only 21.9 percent of Rhode Island families can afford infant care.
The average costs of care for both an infant and 4-year-old total nearly $23,000 annually, 106.2 percent more than the average rent in Rhode Island, EPI said.
It also said child care is out of reach for workers with low incomes, as a minimum-wage worker would need to work full time for 34 weeks just to pay child care for one infant, and that child-care workers also struggle to get by, as their families are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as other workers’ families, 14.7 percent compared with 6.7 percent.
The EPI is advocating for “meaningful child-care reform” that would cap families’ child-care expenses at 10 percent. It said that would expand Rhode Island’s economy by 1.5 percent, creating $832.4 million of new economic activity.
“A typical Rhode Island family with an infant could save $6,155 on child-care costs if we implemented this reform. This would free up 11.3 percent of their annual income to spend on other necessities,” EPI said.

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