Here's How Expensive Child Care Is For Alabama Families

Child care isn’t cheap in Alabama. According to updated research from the Economic Policy Institute, parents in Alabama shell out $6,001 for infant care on average every year or $500 each month.

While infant care costs Alabama parents just over $6,000, the child-care costs for a 4-year-old is $5,184 or $432 per month, according to the Washington, D.C.-based think tank’s calculations.

By U.S. Department of Health and Human Service standards, infant care is only affordable for 27.1 percent of Alabama families. The agency’s standard says that child care if affordable if it costs no more than 7 percent of a family’s income. According to the EPI’s calculations, infant care for one child would take up 11.9 percent of a median family’s income in Alabama.

For a family with two kids — an infant and a 4-year-old — child care costs take up 22.2 percent of a family's income.

For workers who earn minimum wage, child care is simply out of reach in Alabama, the EPI says.

The EPI suggests certain solutions for lowering the costs of child care, including capping child-care expenses at 7 percent. That would save a typical family in Alabama $2,335 and would free up more parents to work.

Read the full report from the Economic Policy Institute here.