How much do you have to make to afford child care in Iowa?

Child care is in crisis in the US. There aren’t enough places for a child to go, especially in rural Iowa. Plus, it’s extremely expensive.

Iowa Republicans’ solution is to allow already overworked day-care employees to take on more children and to let teens care for younger kids. Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, are proposing to pump $16 billion into child-care grant programs. President Joe Biden has also proposed capping child-care co-payments at 7% of income.

But right now, Iowans—like the rest of the country—are paying far more than they should for child care.

To make matters worse, the cost of care is outpacing inflation.

The US Department of Health and Human Services says a family should spend no more than 7% of their income on child care. Yet two-thirds of US parents spent more than 20% of their family income getting care for their children, with an average of 27% of their income, according to a Care.com survey this year.

So we wanted to know: How much is the average yearly cost for one child, at birth, to go to a licensed daycare center in each Iowa county? And how much would your family have to make per year to afford it (7% of income)?

Spoiler alert: WAY too much.

Here’s the list:

Amie Rivers
9/25/23

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