Child Care Costs More Than College In NY

NEW YORK – Never mind saving for your kids' college tuition – day care is going to break the bank long before that.

Paying somebody to look after the kids while you work is more expensive in New York than almost every other state – and much more than tuition costs at a public college, according to research by the Economic Policy Institute.

Parents here shell out an averge of $15,394-a-year for care, making it the sixth most expensive state in the country.

In-state tuition at a four-year public college costs $7,456 less per year, the institute found.

By U.S. Department of Health and Human Service standards, infant care is only affordable for 9.4 percent of New York families. The agency’s standard says that child care is 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 22.1 percent of an average New York family’s.

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 NY family $10,152 and would free up more parents to work, it says.