Surging Childcare Costs Are Hurting More and More Americans

It’s not the cost of diapers or even future college tuition that’s rattling Amber Sparks.

“We basically had to remake our entire budget around daycare,” said Sparks, 37, whose three-month old daughter began attending childcare this month when Sparks returned to work for a labor union in Washington. “We’ll eat out a lot less, and have a lot less discretionary spending. We live in an apartment building and I don’t think there’s any way we’d be able to afford a home and pay for daycare and pay for student loans.”