“There was such a long wait list for all of them,” said Lane, who works in merchandising. “We would have had to have signed up on a wait list before I knew even that I was pregnant.”

Some parents leave the workforce

Some parents have been left with no choice but to leave the workforce as a result of rising childcare costs.

The number of dual-income households decreased from 2020 to 2023, according to the Bank of America analysis. Oftentimes, women — who are more likely to be the lower earner in their relationship and to carry more of the emotional and parenting load — are the ones who make the professional sacrifice.

“I would love to be at work full time but I can’t afford it,” Megan Ross, a chemist and mother of two who lives in Newtown Square, said at the discussion earlier this month in Delaware County.

“Me and my husband are both college-educated. We don’t make enough money [to afford care on our own]. We make too much money” to qualify for assistance, she added. “What are we supposed to do?”

Others, such as mom Amy Salovin, are hoping that they don’t have to make that choice between their job and childcare.

“Taking the long view, it’s better to remain working, even though a significant portion of my salary goes toward childcare right now,” Salovin said. The long-term earnings potential and the difficulty of reentering the workforce make her hesitant to leave her job, even temporarily.

For her, there are also intangible benefits.

“I’m a better parent when I have more patience and my own thing,” Salovin said. “I like my work.”

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