The Cost of Working: Childcare Affordability Analysis of Florida and Georgia

The Cost of Working: Childcare Affordability Analysis of Florida and Georgia

July 15, 2026

• Partners Update
• Publication
• Regional Economy
• Community and Economic Development
• Workforce Development

Childcare costs are on the rise, so much so that cost increases in recent years have outpaced the rate of inflation for other goods and services. Between 2020 and 2024, there was a 29 percent increase in childcare prices compared to a 22 percent rise in overall prices.¹ Childcare costs now often far exceed the seven percent of income affordability benchmark established by the US Department of Health and Human Services (USHHS).

The escalating cost of childcare is an especially critical issue in fast growing states where labor availability is a perennial concern among employers. Take Florida and Georgia for example. Using US Census Bureau data on families with children age five and younger and the estimated costs of childcare, we examined what percentage of families with young children in those two states would likely spend more than seven percent of their income on childcare.² We determined that 79.1 percent of Georgia families and 85.4 percent of Florida families are estimated to spend more than seven percent of their income on childcare.³ In Georgia, estimated weekly costs for care of infant/toddler and preschool-aged children are $200 and $180 respectively. Statewide, the median percentage of income families would need to pay for childcare is 13.9 percent. On a relative basis, infant and toddler care costs are even more burdensome in Florida. The estimated weekly costs for care of infant/toddler and preschool-aged children in that state are $268 and $208, respectively. In Florida, the median percentage of income families would need to pay for childcare is 16.8 percent. Practically, what this means is that for many families the cost of childcare may cause significant financial pressure and force difficult decisions about potentially reducing work hours or leaving jobs.

Figure 1
Estimated Percentage of Families with Children Age 5 and Under Paying More than 7% of Income on Childcare Costs

Source: US Census Bureau's 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) 2023 1-year estimates, Childcare Market Rate Survey, and author's calculations

Household Proportion of Income on Childcare

To better understand how these dynamics unfold, in our recent Discussion Paper, "Too Costly to Work: The Childcare Burden on Households," we explore the magnitude of the childcare burdens for households with workers in select essential and foundational occupations in high-growth counties in Florida and Georgia. ⁵

Fulton County and Miami-Dade County are the most populous counties in Georgia and Florida, respectively. They are also experiencing significant job gains, with employment growth in each county reaching 20 percent or more between 2014 and 2024.⁶ Highlighting select analyses for these counties can demonstrate some of the childcare affordability obstacles that working parents may encounter in communities where labor supply is critical to meet growth demand.

Three occupations help illustrate the range of financial burden potentially experienced by families with young children: Childcare Workers represent lower-wage earners, Customer Service Representatives represent mid-range earners, and Registered Nurses represent higher-wage earners (the paper includes examinations of nine additional occupations).⁷ As in the Discussion Paper, we calculate the household percentage of income (HPI) that families would likely expend on childcare using the median price of childcare and various family compositions.⁸ The charts below illustrate how childcare affordability varies dramatically not only by occupation and wage level, but also by family structure and the number and ages of children requiring care.⁹

Figure 2
Fulton County: Household Proportion of Income Spent on Childcare Among Select Occupations

Source: 2023-24 Childcare Market Rate Survey, 2023 Lightcast, 2023 ACS one-year second earner estimates, and authors' calculations

Figure 3
Miami-Dade County: Household Proportion of Income Spent on Childcare Among Select Occupations

Sources: 2023-24 Childcare Market Rate Survey, 2023 Lightcast, 2023 ACS one-year second earner estimates, and authors' calculations

Notably, none of the scenarios include an HPI under the seven percent USHHS affordability benchmark. In the two counties, across all selected scenarios, the HPI spent on childcare ranges from 9.9 percent for a Registered Nurse in a dual-earner household with an infant in Miami-Dade to 86.2 percent for a Childcare Worker in a single-earner household with an infant and three-year-old in Fulton County.

Customer Service Representatives, as a proxy for mid-range income for high-demand occupations, would spend between 14.1 percent HPI on childcare for a dual-earner household with an infant in Fulton County and 61 percent HPI for a single-earner household with an infant and three-year-old in Miami-Dade County. These significant variations demonstrate the unevenness of affordability challenges for working families and reveal that childcare costs consume a significant share of household income for different geographies in a variety of household settings and occupations.

Childcare Expenses and the Household Budget

Putting childcare costs in the context of the household budget demonstrates the potential for difficult decisions working families with young children may have to navigate to make household financial ends meet.

In Fulton County, average earnings for a Customer Service Representative are less than $44,000 annually.¹⁰ In a single-earner household scenario with an infant, such earnings would be $14,000 short of the United for ALICE-ALICE Survival Budget.¹¹ In a dual-earner scenario in which one spouse works as a Customer Service Representative, household earnings exceed total estimated expenses. In Miami-Dade County, the total estimated earnings for both single-earner and two-earner households in which one person works as a Customer Service Representative remain below the ALICE Survival Budget. For the single-earner scenario income trails estimated expenses by a wide margin, though estimated earnings for two-earner households are within $1,000 of the ALICE budget. It is important to note that these scenarios only involve a single child. In household scenarios with multiple children, income is even less likely to exceed expenses given the increased cost of childcare.

Figure 4
Fulton County: Customer Service Representative Earnings Versus Expenses for Single and Dual Earner Households with an Infant

Source: 2023 United For ALICE, 2023 ACS one-year estimates, 2023 Lightcast, and authors' calculations

Figure 5
Miami-Dade County: Customer Service Representative Earnings Versus Expenses for Single and Dual Earner Households with an Infant

Source: 2023 United For ALICE, 2023 ACS one-year estimates, 2023 Lightcast, and authors' calculations

Conclusion

The analysis reveals that childcare costs consume a disproportionate share of household income, particularly for single-earner families, families with multiple children requiring care, and for workers employed in lower-wage occupations essential to community functioning. Childcare Workers, the very individuals providing care services, face some of the most severe childcare cost burdens. The median cost of care for two children, for example, can represent more than 85 percent of the median wage of Childcare Workers, creating a dynamic where childcare providers cannot afford the very services they provide to others.

For high-growth metropolitan areas, inadequate childcare affordability may become a constraint on continued economic expansion. If families cannot afford to participate in the workforce because of high childcare costs, or if workers relocate to more affordable areas, regional economic growth may be limited by labor supply constraints rather than labor demand. Analysis of childcare costs helps define the level of potential financial burden for working families with young children and can inform strategies that address affordability for working families.

The views expressed here are those of the author's and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta or the Federal Reserve System. Any remaining errors are the author's responsibility.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's Community and Economic Development function supports the Central Bank's mandate of stable prices and maximum employment by helping improve the economic opportunity of low- and moderate-income (LMI) individuals and underserved places for a stronger economy for all Americans. Community development is one of the Federal Reserve's core functions and this responsibility is rooted in its mandates from Congress. Partners Update articles address community and economic development trends, issues, and events. Find more research, use data tools, and sign up for email updates at Community Economic and Development.

¹ Child Care Aware of America, "Childcare in America: 2024 Price & Supply,".

² To calculate the amount that each family would need to pay to enroll all of their young children in full-time care, we used the US Census Bureau's 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) 1-year estimates. We first calculated the number of infants and toddlers (ages zero through two) and the number of preschool-aged children (ages three through five) per household. Families were assigned an estimate for childcare costs based on data from the Childcare Market Rate Survey. To calculate this estimate, we took the median cost of childcare for each state and weighted by the capacity of each provider or the number of seats, similar to the approach taken in our recent discussion paper, "Two Costly to Work? The Childcare Burden on Household Earnings." For each household, we then multiplied the state weight median market rate for each child age range by the number of children in the household in that age range to get the estimated cost of full-time, center-based care for all young children in the household. Finally, we divided this amount by the family's reported annual household income to estimate the percentage of household income that would be needed to pay for full-time, center-based care for all young children in the household. This approach was inspired by and closely resembles the methodology that was used in the report: Child Care Affordability in Connecticut. See the US Census Bureau, "2023 PUMS Data,"; Brittany Birken, John Reese, and Jacob Walker, "Too Costly to Work? The Childcare Burden on Household Earnings," Discussion Paper No. 2025-02 (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, November 18, 2025); CT Data Collaborative, Child Care Affordability in Connecticut (May 2025).

³ Note that this does not account for childcare subsidies, programs offering free or reduced tuition to income-eligible families, sibling discounts, or other tuition reductions that may be available to families. This analysis also did not include part-time or part-year enrollments. Finally, the cost of before- or after-school care for school-aged children was also not considered.

⁴ Seven percent is the recommended benchmark by the US Department of Health and Human Services for parent contributions toward the cost of subsidized childcare. US Department of Health and Human Services, "Restoring Flexibility in the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)," Code of Federal Regulations Vol. 91, No. 91 (May 12, 2026): 25796.

⁵ Brittany Birken, John Reese, and Jacob Walker, "Too Costly to Work? The Childcare Burden on Household Earnings," Discussion Paper No. 2025-02 (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, November 18, 2025)/p>

⁶ Lightcast 2023 data from 2025.1 release (QCEW Employees).

⁷ The estimated income is the county-level annual median salary for the selected occupation, as provided by the Lightcast data.

⁸ HPI is calculated using the county-level median childcare rate for each child combination and an estimated annual household income for single-earner and dual-earner households. In single-earner scenarios, occupation wage data from Lightcast is the utilized for income data. In two-earner calculations, this figure is complemented with the state median personal income for a second adult in the house with a child younger than five as provided in the American Community Survey. See the US Census Bureau, "2023 PUMS Data".

⁹ For dual-earner households, the second earner estimates are derived from the 2023 American Community Survey using estimates for the median personal income of the second earner in households with children younger five and younger in Florida ($50,975.90) and Georgia ($61,711.08) respectively. See the US Census Bureau, "2023 PUMS Data"); Brittany Birken, John Reese, and Jacob Walker, "Too Costly to Work? The Childcare Burden on Household Earnings," Discussion Paper No. 2025-02 (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, November 18, 2025).

¹⁰ Lightcast 2023 data from 2025.1 release (QCEW Employees).

¹¹ Analysis utilized the ALICE Survival Budget, substituting authors' childcare cost data in place of their estimates. United for ALICE, "Methodology," United Way of Northern New Jersey (2026).