Estimated percent of income spent on child care and OST programming combined before COVID-19 for Kentucky families with children ages 0-13

According to results from Wave 5 of the Afterschool Alliance's "Afterschool in the Time of COVID-19" online provider survey, conducted June 2-28, 2021, 43% of OST program providers across the nation reported that their cost-per child per week for in-person services over the summer increased in 2021. Among programs that reported an increase, nearly half reported an increase of more than 10%.

The U.S. Census Bureau defines a "family" as two or more people (one of whom is the householder), related by birth, marriage, or adoption, residing in the same housing unit. The American Community Survey (ACS) produces estimates of median income for single-female headed families and all families. In Kentucky, the estimated median family income from 2015-2019 was $23,104 for single female-headed families and $63,584 across all families. To estimate the percent of income spent on child care and OST programming combined for different types of families, we combined family income estimates from the 2015-2019 ACS with the most recent pre-pandemic state-level cost data for full-time enrollment in center-based child care (for children ages 0-5) and OST programs (for school-age children), sourced from Child Care Aware and the Afterschool Alliance. First, annual costs were calculated for each family type/structure. This number was then divided by the appropriate estimated median family income for that family and multiplied by 100 to produce the percentages shown.