More parents are struggling financially these days than a few years ago, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households survey. Just 65% of parents with kids under 18 say they’re “doing OK financially or living comfortably.” That’s down 10 percentage points since 2021. Among adults who don’t have kids, 76% say they’re doing OK financially. 

Life has gotten a lot more expensive since 2021. Michelle Holder, associate professor of economics at John Jay College at the City University of New York, said everyone’s been feeling it.

But, “any sort of expense that you encounter for your household just gets bigger when you have children in that household. I mean, you pay more for food, you pay more for clothing, you are likely going to pay at some point for child care,” Holder said.

The financial struggles many parents face pre-date the pandemic and inflation, said Suzanne Kahn, senior vice president of the think tank at the Roosevelt Institute.

“They've been building for a really long time because they're rooted in structural issues,” Kahn said.

Namely, a lack of affordable child care and paid family and sick leave. But in the last few years, child care and housing costs are through the roof, she said.

Child care costs almost 30% more now than it did pre-pandemic.

“Families are having to make really hard choices about whether and how much caregivers participate in the paid workforce and how much they are at home,” said Kahn. “And that's not good for the economy.”

Especially if there are workers who would like to be in the workforce, but who have to stay home instead, because they can’t afford child care.