GA Child-Care Expenses Ranked In New Study

Child care is pricey no matter where you go in the country, but Georgia appears to be on the lower end of costs.

The Peach State ranks 42nd in the U.S. in child-care expenses for married couples, according to a new study from the personal finance website WalletHub.

Nationwide, couples could spend as much as more than 13 percent of their income on child care, while a single parent could have to shell out roughly 51 percent, according to WalletHub’s research.

“It costs a lot of money to take care of a child’s needs, and many parents are left with the dilemma of whether to forgo one salary to do their own child care for the first few years or to shell out a significant chunk of their income for child care services," Chip Lupo, WalletHub analyst, said in the report.

Georgia married couples spend a median of 8.72 percent of their income on center-based child care, the study found. Couples also spend a median of 6.77 percent of their income for family-based child care.

For single parents in Georgia, the cost burden is much higher. Georgia ranked 41st in the country for expenses for single parents, with single parents paying a median of 28.10 percent of their income on center-based child care and 21.80 percent on family-based child care.

"Despite the hefty price tag, paying for child care is often unavoidable. Due to increases in the cost of living and shifts in gender roles over the years, households in which both parents work are commonplace," WalletHub wrote. "In fact, both parents are employed in 66.5% of families with children, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and as a result, child care is an essential service for millions of families in the U.S. It’s also a necessity for single parents who don’t have the option to leave children with a partner during the day."

Here are the top 10 most expensive states for child care for couples:

1. New York
2. New Mexico
3. Washington
4. Oregon
5. Vermont
6. California
7. Rhode Island
8. Hawaii
9. Colorado
10. Massachusetts

Check out the full analysis at WalletHub.

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