In North Carolina, Child Care Costs More Than College

For a long time, saving for college has been a concern for parents. Now, it might be saving for day care. According to a report by the Economic Policy Institute, it's more expensive in North Carolina to go to preschool than to college.  

Let's break down the numbers. The average annual cost of public college tuition in the state is $6,578. The annual cost of child care for a four-year-old? $7,592. And for infants, it's even higher. It turns out this is an issue for over half the country. 

Josh Bivens is the Research and Policy Director with the Economic Policy Institute and helped published the report.

“If you look at infant care, it's more expensive than in-state tuition for public schools in 33 states and the District of Columbia.”  

Bivens says there's a public role in helping finance higher education and soon perhaps the same will be true of child care.

“I think it's not too long before people will start treating early childhood care the exact same way, and start demanding a bigger public role to make it more affordable to a broader range of people.”

So, what is considered affordable? According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, child care would have to cost less than 10 percent of a family's annual income. New York is where it costs the most. And the least expensive state for day care is South Dakota.