What Child Care Costs In MI 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 high child care costs, according to a new survey by Morning Consult conducted for The New York Times.

High child care costs was the top reason adults expected to have fewer kids than they considered ideal. It was also among the top reasons why adults didn’t want to have children or weren’t sure that they wanted to have kids.

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, that shows that he average annual cost of infant care in Michigan is $9,882—that’s $824 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 Michigan, the report said. Infant care in Michigan costs just $1,413 (12.5%) less than in-state tuition for 4-year public college.

In Michigan, infant care costs 6.1% more than average rent, the 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 26.0% of Michigan 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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