“Researchers Pamela Joshi and Abigail Walters focused their analysis on full-time, year-round working parents with children under 14, comparing what full-time child care costs in today’s market to the federal affordability benchmark: The cost of care should not exceed 7 percent of family income.

“In Massachusetts, nearly three-quarters of full-time, year-round working parents face child care costs that exceed that federal affordability benchmark of 7 percent. Eighty-five percent of Black parents and 92 percent of Hispanic parents in Massachusetts face unaffordable center-based child care prices, they found.”

“For a full-time working parent in Massachusetts with two children — an infant and a preschooler — the estimated annual child care price is $44,649 if they use center-based care: $26,709 for infant care and $17,939 for preschool care. If they use home-based care, their estimated annual price would be $28,067: $14,467 for infant care and $13,599 for preschool care. Gulp.”

“Joshi: I do think this audience really is policy makers. We’ve given a magnitude. We put a number on this affordability gap; it’s 74 percent of full-time working parents. At a minimum, the legislature should fund a child care financial assistance program so that working parents can afford child care. Child care is what we consider a public good. It should be similar to K-12 education, but it’s just not financed like that. It’s not going away; no one is solving this with private money, without additional investment.”

— “In Massachusetts, child care costs are out of reach for most working parents,” by Kara Baskin, The Boston Globe, February 20, 2026