Tennessee families making median income spend more than 40% of it on childcare, report shows

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A new report from the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth found families making the median income in Tennessee spent on average 40% of their household income on childcare in 2022 to 2023, a 13 point increase compared to the year prior.

“It’s impossible to talk to parents with young children without hearing about how much childcare costs, how much they’re having to plan around that; so I think to have it reflected in these numbers is really helpful,” Kylie Graves, TCCY’s director of data, policy, and communications said.

The 2024 County Profiles of Child Well-Being in Tennessee report includes childcare cost burden in all 95 counties, which is calculated using the average market rate price for full-time care of an infant and a 2-year-old through school-age child, as a percentage of the county’s estimated median household income.

The data showed drastic differences in the childcare cost burden among the different counties. According to the report, Williamson and Fayette Counties had the lowest cost burden in the state at 19.6% each, while Hardin County had the highest at 105.7%, an 84.4 point increase compared to the year before.

Some parents in counties with higher cost burdens may end up having to pay more for childcare than they make.

“The challenge becomes once it hits a certain point, it does not make sense for that parent, if able, to stay in the workforce anymore. If they’re paying more than their salary in childcare costs then they may drop out of the workforce, and then it can be hard to reengage back,” Graves said. “The other option is that staying home is just not an option for that family.”

If the parent has no other choice but to work, Graves told Nexstar’s News 2 they have to scramble to find childcare elsewhere, even if that means putting their child in an unsafe space or environment.

Even though childcare is so expensive, those who work in the industry are some of the lowest paid, according to TCCY, creating issues with retention which in turn, impacts how many children a center can take care of due to staff-to-child ratios required by the state.

“That puts childcare providers in a really tough spot because typically in any other industry you would just have the workers pick up more work, take on more responsibilities, and that’s just something that cannot happen with childcare because of the safety ratios there,” Graves said.

Graves told News 2 taking advantage of the state subsidy, encouraging paid leave, building up the childcare workforce, and improving retention rates can all help ease the childcare cost burden in Tennessee.

To learn more about the state’s childcare payment assistance program, click here.

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