For working parents, child care can be a very important thing. One thing working parents may be very worried about when it comes to child care for their kids is if they will be able to handle the costs of such care. Such concern is understandable, given how high child care expenses typically are.
Here in Texas, child care expenses can often be near to or even exceed the costs of college tuition. According to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, the average cost for infant care in Texas is greater than the average full-time, in-state tuition for Texas public colleges, being 117.7 percent of the average cost of such tuition. The report indicates that the average cost for child care for a four-year-old in the state, meanwhile, is lower than the average public college tuition level, but not by much; it still is over 90 percent of the average tuition cost.
Thus, child care costs can easily take up a very big portion of a family’s budget. This can particularly be the case for low-income families. This can be seen in some further statistics from the above-mentioned study. The statistics indicate that the annual average cost of infant care and the average annual cost for child care for a 4-year-old are equal to 58.4 percent and 45 percent respectively of what a year’s worth of full-time wages would be at the state’s minimum wage.
Thus, even in the best of times, child care costs can be a big concern for low-income families and other families here in Texas. Something that could make a parent even more worried about their ability to afford child care for their kids is a divorce. Divorce can have a big impact on how big of costs a parent can absorb and what child care needs they have in relation to their kids.
This is among the reasons why properly addressing child care costs in a child support arrangement can be of such great importance in a divorce. Texas divorce attorneys can help divorcing parents in the state look into what sorts of child care needs and costs they will likely have post-divorce and help them with understanding how they might want to approach child-care-related child support issues in their divorce.
Source: NBC New York, “Child Care Costs Exceeds Rent, College Tuition in Many States: Study,” Danielle Abreu, Oct. 9, 2015