A poll of nearly 2,800 parents and caregivers shows how costly child care is in Louisiana. Mattilyn Karst Batson, the research and policy director for the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children (LPIC), says parents reported spending an average of $870 per child per month, or more than $10,000 a year.
“This is all happening, of course, when parents are at the very front end of their careers. Whereas, when you’re planning for college, you have about 18 years to figure that financial plan out. So, it’s a real challenge for many working parents in Louisiana,” Batson explained.
Batson says a majority of the parents polled said they worried about paying for child care and, in some cases, decided to quit their job because it made more financial sense to stay home.
“Which we know, for some parents, from our surveys, that that’s actually not the choice they would like to make for their families, but they’re forced to,” Batson said.
Batson says the results of the poll will be shared with lawmakers as they make decisions on funding for child care assistance.
“This is not just a parent issue; this is really a Louisiana economy issue. And so, getting data on these things helps us to better picture, for our legislature, as to why it’s such an important investment for them to make,” Batson said.
Batson says there are more than 7,000 children eligible for government assistance to help pay for child care costs, but they are unable to receive any resources because there is not enough funding.