A new Economic Policy Institute report documents how hard it is for Wyoming families to pay for early child care and education for one child – let alone two. Zane Mokhiber with the Institute says most people don’t think of infant care as a particular cost burden, when compared with expenses including education and housing, but it’s actually one of the more burdensome costs facing families. In fact, a typical Wyoming family with two children has to spend more than 27 percent of its income for child care.
Child care for an infant and a four-year-old costs nearly 20-thousand dollars a year. That’s 48 percent more than the average Wyomingite spends on rent. The report’s recommends giving 12 weeks of paid family leave for parents of newborns; but critics of such paid leave say the move would hurt businesses and lead to increased costs for consumers.
