Cost of child care increasing in Franklin County

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Childcare agencies recommend families spend 7 to 10% of their monthly income on childcare, but the cost of childcare is increasing.

"It’s a challenge," Jasmine Lutz, who is pregnant with her second child, said. "It’s stretching people budget-wise."

As Lutz prepares for her baby, she's shocked by the increasing cost of childcare.

"It’s insane," she said. "It’s a mortgage payment. Like genuinely I used to work in the daycare field, and I just don’t understand how parents can afford to put multiple kids in daycare let alone just one."

Lutz's son is old enough to attend school, but she remembers paying $600 a month for his daycare seven years ago. Now, she said she's finding tuition rates at $1.600 a month.

“We gotta do something," Lutz said. "Parents can’t continue to struggle in that way. We have to work, and we want to raise our families, not shell out thousands of dollars a month or a year for care."

"It's really a harsh circumstance that families face that they've got to shoulder this burden if they want to fully participate in the economy and if they want to make sure their children are fully ready for kindergarten," Eric Karolak, Action for Children's CEO, said.

According to Karolak, 37% of childcare facilities in Franklin County increased tuition rates from July 2021 until November 2021.

At the same time, he said, 245 centers shut their doors from 2020 until August of 2022, mostly in-home facilities.

“Providing childcare has never been easy, and the pandemic has made it much more difficult," Koralak said. "Childcare programs face the same labor shortage that every other employer in the county is facing, and that means their costs are going up."

Plus, facilities are impacted by inflation.

"Whether it's the cost of food that's provided for young children or the gas that is necessary for transportation to and from a school site for school-aged childcare, the cost that childcare programs are facing are increasing across the board," he said.

Lutz said while tuition is high, she also cannot find a childcare center with an opening for an infant until the summer of 2023.

"It’s stressful," Lutz said. "That’s the last thing you want to have to worry about when you’re already preparing to be a parent again.”

If you need help affording childcare, Action for Children can help. The organization's Franklin County RISE Program has scholarships available for up to $10,000 a year. Parents need to work with their childcare provider to apply for the scholarship.