Maternal Employment Drops When Childcare Is Expensive and Hard To Find

Financial burdens for childcare expenses are not evenly distributed across states and regions of the United States. While some funds are allotted to states by the federal government, there is significant state-level discretion in how states administer this small pool of funds. For parents the expense, stress, and uncertainty of finding quality early care and education (ECE) varies from place to place as both the availability and affordability of ECE services are inconsistent. This brief by the Institute for Research on Poverty summarizes how rates of maternal employment decline when childcare is expensive and difficult to find.