The survey from the Pew Research Center says child care costs and student debt are among the factors dissuading potential parents.
Congress committed $39 billion in federal funds to support the child care industry during the pandemic, but those funds are now drying up. Now, many child care providers plan to raise tuition.
They say programs designed to help low-income families are only reaching a fraction of those eligible.
Everyone’s adjusting now that pandemic-era federal subsidies have ended.
A new report warns that the looming withdrawal of pandemic-era aid for childcare could hurt children and families.
Already, child care inflation is running nearly double the rate of overall inflation.
!["We got this $1 billion increase that's going to help the [child care] programs that exist, but we need so much more," said the Century Foundation's Julie Kashen.](https://img.apmcdn.org/37d1d9b86729da009aefedfa5246570d69f0822e/uncropped/0596f6-2024-03-gettyimages-1231354975-e1711475014136-webp2000.webp)
