“The average cost of child care for a 4-year-old in the state has skyrocketed to nearly $18,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

“Child care for an infant is even higher, costing about $26,700 a year — that’s more than the annual cost of housing or college for most families. Child care is considered affordable when it costs no more than 7 percent of a family’s income. By that standard a family would have to make $381,428 a year to afford it. That means fewer than one in 10 families in Massachusetts can truly afford infant care.

“Jennifer Carrigan in Dracut knows the struggle too well. Despite making a six-figure salary in commercial real estate, Carrigan finds that the expense of raising three children daunting. To lessen the cost, her husband is a stay-at-home parent. But on occasion they’ve each taken part-time weekend jobs to make it all work.

“ ‘It sounds like a good salary on paper,’ she said. ‘But no, I’m struggling.’”

— “Why the middle class is disappearing in Massachusetts,” by Esmy Jimenez, Aaron Pressman, and Mara Kardas-Nelson, The Boston Globe, November 12, 2025