Florida Infant Care More Costly Than College, Study Finds

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Sunshine State parents with infants in daycare pay more over the course of a year than those with a child in one of the state’s public colleges.

That’s the finding of a new study released by the Economic Policy Institute. The organization says Florida is one of 33 states where infant care costs more than college.

The report found the average cost of infant care in Florida is $8,694, or about $725 a month. Infant care costs, the study found, are only 27.3 percent less than the average rent charged in the state.

Parents of older children pay less, but not by much. Child care for a 4-year-old in the Sunshine State was calculated at $7,669 a year. For those with more than one child, the financial burden grows.

“A typical family in Florida would have to spend 31.3 percent of their income on child care for an infant and a 4-year-old,” the study concluded.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggests that childcare should cost no more than 10 percent of a family's annual income to be "affordable." Going by that standard, researchers concluded only 30.2 percent of Florida families can afford care for an infant.

The Economic Policy Institute is a “nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank," according to its website. It was founded in the 1980s to “include the needs of low- and middle-income workers in economic policy discussions.”

To find out more EPI or the study, visit the organization online.

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