Childcare costs 'more than a mortgage' per kid, forcing Philly parents to make tough choices

As a result, more than 4,000 centers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey could eventually close, potentially affecting more than 250,000 children, according to the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, though other industry experts and analysts have contested the “worst-case scenario” prediction.

In the meantime, the Biden administration in February announced it was moving to make it more affordable for families who qualify for childcare subsidies, requiring all states to cap maximum co-payments at no more than 7% of a family’s monthly income.

But families who make too much money to qualify — as well as eligible families who are increasingly not signing up for these programs — won’t see relief.

“People in the middle-class range, it’s hard to afford these things, but we don’t qualify for any kind of funding,” said Amy Bobb, a 37-year-old social worker and mother of four who lives in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.

‘More than a mortgage’

Earlier this month, state lawmakers, local officials, childcare center directors, and parents convened in Delaware County to push for more support from Harrisburg as pandemic funding runs out.

“We’re finding that there are all these parents who are at this level where they still can’t afford childcare even though they both have really good jobs,” Monica Taylor, chair of the Delaware County Commissioners, said in a recent interview. “They’re making these decisions — like, ‘I’m not going to work,’ or mom stays home or is only working part-time — because it costs more money to put their child into childcare.”

It’s a topic that’s personal to Taylor, whose daughter, born in 2020, was on day-care waiting lists for more than a year. About a month after she got into a center, the facility had to close its infant room due to staffing issues.

Taylor said she was fortunate to have family and friends in the area who could watch her daughter. A few months later, her daughter became old enough to get into the center’s young toddler room, which had adequate staffing.

She feels for the parents across the county who tell her how much they are struggling.

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