Childcare costs
Costs for childcare relative to income are rising over time, with families spending on average 8.9% to 16% of their median income for a full-day care for one child in the U.S. (U.S. Department of Labor, 2018-2022). In general, families pay more for home-based childcare than center-based childcare, but there can be variability. The cost […]
ALICE and poverty
There are several ways that economic security and poverty are measured. ALICE is a methodology that represents the growing number of families who are struggling to meet their basic needs (United Way of Northern New Jersey, 2025). Federal poverty rates are a different way to measure economic status by estimating the monetary income of households […]