We all know that having a child is expensive, and that’s especially true when it comes to childcare. But it turns out, most people in the U.S. are clueless as to how much they’ll likely be shelling out for childcare costs.
- Recent data from the Center for American Progress reports that the average cost to send your kid to a child care center is around $1,300 a month, depending on where you live.
- And high-quality infant care costs about $2,400 a month.
- But a recent YouGov poll finds most people grossly underestimate how much childcare is going to cost them.
- In fact, only 27% of Americans were correct in estimating how much monthly childcare costs.
- And 52% think the monthly cost is about $1,000 less than it actually is.
- Overall, only 11% of Americans think monthly childcare costs are about $1,600 or more.
- Most people, about 13%, think the costs are either $1,000 a month or $800.
- And shockingly, 4% of people actually think it costs only $200 a month or less.
Of course, the high costs make it very difficult for some to actually find good quality childcare, and the YouGov poll finds that most people believe that lack of childcare affects mothers more than it does fathers.
- 38% of adults say lack of childcare "very" often prevents mothers from finding work outside the, while another 33% say happens “somewhat” often.
- As for dads, 13% say it “very” often prevents them from finding work outside the home, while 23% say it affects them “somewhat” often.
Source: YouGov