How Much Child Care Costs In CA As Birth Rate Hits 30-Year Low

The CDC reported in May that the United States birth rate dipped to a 30-year low in 2017 overall and for nearly all age groups of women under the age of 40. And it turns out a big reason adults are having fewer children is the high cost of child care, according to a new survey by Morning Consult conducted for The New York Times.

The cost of child care was the top reason adults expected to have fewer kids than they considered ideal. It was also among the top reasons why adults either did not want to have kids or were not sure or about having them.

The Consult survey did not include child care costs, but they are significant and can vary dramatically depending on the area. CNBC pointed to data from The Economic Policy Institute, which shows the average annual cost of infant care in California is $11,817—that's $985 per month.

According to CNBC, as of 2015, American parents spent an average of $233,610 per child from birth until the age of 17. High-income families spent more while lower-income families spent less on a child, according to CNBC.

For perspective, child care is one of the biggest expenses families face in California, the report said. Infant care in California costs $2,914 (32.7%) more than in-state tuition for four-year public college.

In California, infant care costs just 26% less than average rent, the EPI report went on to show.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), child care is affordable if it costs no more than 10% of a family's income. By this standard, only 28.5% of California families can afford infant care.

Minnesota, Massachusetts and Washington D.C. were the three places where child care was most expensive.

The Times survey asked respondents who expected to have fewer children than they considered ideal to choose from a number of reasons why they expected that outcome.

According to the survey, 64 percent of those respondents cited the cost of child care, making it the top-cited reason. Other top reasons included wanting more time for the children they have, "worried about the economy," not being able to afford more children and "waited because of financial instability."

The young adults who said they didn't want to have children or weren't sure cited wanting more leisure time and the fact that they haven't found a partner yet as their top two reasons. Not being able to afford child care was the third most cited reason by this group.

Respondents in the survey were 1,858 men and women between the age of 20 and 45.

Read the full The New York Times/Morning Consult poll here.

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