The Cost of Child Care in California Is a Large Share of Family Budgets, Especially for Single-Parent Families

Child care costs for an infant and a school-age child as a share of annual family income, 2024

This is a column chart showing child care costs for an infant and a school-age child as a share of annual family income. In particular, for a typical single mother in California, she will spend 63% of her income on child care.

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Note: Cost of care is for a licensed center in California in 2021 (full-time for an infant and prorated according to the school year for a school-age child) adjusted for inflation to reflect 2024 dollars. Costs are based on counties' median cost of care weighted to reflect each county's population of infants and school-age children.

Source: Budget Center analysis of data from the California Department of Social Services, 2021 Regional Market Rate Survey and US Census BureauDownload image