ORLANDO, Fla. – Probably no surprise to parents, but a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows rising child care costs may be forcing more people to make a tough choice: stay home or stay in the workforce?

Orange County mom Allyson Roth knows the importance of building connections with her young son. Like all kids, her son Maxwell’s brain will be 90% developed by age five. Roth also used to teach math in California, but when Maxwell was a baby, Allyson’s husband was transferred to Florida and she was hoping to teach in the Sunshine State.

Roth was shocked. As a result, she is now stitching together a new career. Roth is sewing from home to make ends meet.

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“There have been some studies even pre-pandemic that indicated that the cost of early learning care, so birth through five not yet in kindergarten care in the state of Florida, costs as much as a college degree,” said Jennifer Grant, the CEO of the Early Learning Coalition of Seminole County.

Grant says there are two programs in Florida to help lower costs. First, there are free voluntary pre-kindergarten, or VPK, programs for all 4-year-olds about to enter kindergarten. Florida provides 540 hours of free instructional care. To meet those state-mandated requirements, many VPK programs in the state offer 3 hours of free care a day Monday through Friday.

Florida also offers the School Readiness program, which subsidizes childcare for working parents who make no more than 150% below the federal poverty level. For a family of four, that’s $45,000 a year, but Grant says Florida’s rising minimum wage is forcing more families above that threshold.

“We have all kinds of coverage about saving for the cost of college. When your child is born, you hear about saving for the cost of higher education, but we don’t always coach families on the cost of having a child that is in diapers,” said Grant.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau shows how childcare prices have gone up in just the last five years. News 6 crunched the numbers and found that infant care at a center in Central Florida has gone up more than 17% since 2018. In some cases, accounting for more than 15% of a family’s income.

The most expensive county: Seminole at more than $12,000 a year per infant.

Many childcare centers are now having to charge more in order to pay and retain quality staff.

Here’s how that breaks down, county by county:

• Orange: $9,394 in 2018 to $11,058 in 2023, which represents 14.9 % of median family income

• Osceola: $8,811 in 2018 to $10,372 in 2023, which represents 16% of median family income

• Lake: $7,531 in 2018 to $8,864 in 2023, which represents 11.9% of median family income

• Seminole: $10,503 in 2018 to $12,363 in 2023, which represents $13.3% of median family income

• Volusia: $9,195 in 2018 to $10,823 in 2023, which represents 15.5% of median family income

• Flagler: $8,587 in 2018 to $10,108 in 2023, which represents 13.9% of median family income

• Brevard: $9,023 in 2018 to $10,620 in 2023, which represents 13.4% of median family income

• Marion: $8,130 in 2018 to $9,569 in 2023, which represents15.3% of median family income

• Polk: $8,022 in 2018 to $9,443 in 2023, which represents 14.3% of median family income

• Sumter: $8,720 in 2018 to $10,263 in 2023, which represents 13% of median family income

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