You might be surprised to learn how much money Louisiana residents spend on child care. A new report by the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children shows the price of childcare in the state is rapidly rising, up 35 percent from 2010 to 2016.

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To combat this, Executive Director Melanie Bronfin says the state should pump more money into early childhood subsidies like California does with it’s dedicated tobacco tax.

The study shows childcare costs the average single parents on average 38 percent of their wages and even worse, the report shows 45 percent of all kids in the state live in single parent households.

Other details in the first-of-its-kind also finds the following:

 Employee absences and turnover costs due to child care issues cost Louisiana employers $816 million a year

  • Child care issues result in a $1.1 billion loss annually for Louisiana's economy; and

  • Louisiana loses almost $84 million in tax revenue annually due to lost workplace productivity.

  • 14% of Louisiana parents with young children turned down a promotion due to child care issues, 16% quit their jobs, and 8% were fired for the same reason.

You can see the full report here, or find a brief synopsis of the numbers by clicking this link. 

 

 

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