A new study released by Cultural Care Au Pair highlights the ongoing challenges faced by American parents in finding suitable child care options. The study, conducted among 559 parents with school-aged children, showed that 54 percent of respondents struggled to access or secure child care in the past two years.
When asked about the obstacles in finding child care, cost was number one, followed by flexibility and trust. “Nearly 80 percent of respondents reported one of these considerations as their biggest obstacle,” authors of the report said.
And when asked about the most challenging time to find child care, the back-to-school shopping season topped the list. Aside from driving demand for costly child care services, the BTS season this year finds consumers struggling with pricey products. A recent KPMG study found that due to inflationary prices shoppers expect to dole out 14 percent more, on average, on back-to-school shopping per child this year.
KPMG said consumers are also doling out more money not only on essential goods and services, which includes child care, but also across discretionary categories such as apparel and personal care.
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“For most parents, these access challenges [for child care such as cost] are compounded by irregular work schedules or work responsibilities that require them to be away from home for long periods of time — with over 53 percent of respondents stating that they work a schedule outside of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at least three times a week,” the authors of the Cultural Care Au Pair report said.
The study underscores the significant challenges parents face in balancing work and family life, adding that the high cost of child care often exceeds mortgage payments. Of those polled, 84 percent said it has been difficult “for working parents to afford high-quality child care programs for their children (66 percent said very difficult, 18 percent said somewhat difficult), while only 2 percent say it has not been difficult at all.”
The results echo similar findings from a Goldman Sachs Small Businesses Voices survey that revealed how a lack of affordable and accessible child care is negatively impacting small businesses and workers. Researchers said that one-third of owners polled noted that their employees have been forced “to cut their work hours or forgo work entirely because of child care challenges.”
Cultural Care Au Pair said au pairs offer a potential solution. “As young adults from overseas, they provide child care in exchange for a stipend, room and board, and the opportunity to experience American culture,” the agency said, adding that more than 57 percent of parents surveyed considered au pairs a feasible child care option.
Research also showed that more than 64 percent of parents polled said they valued the cultural exposure provided by au pairs. Samantha Janney, executive vice president at Cultural Care Au Pair, said au pairs can address the child care crisis. “While they offer a unique cultural exchange experience, au pairs can also provide much-needed child care support,” she said. “They can be an affordable and flexible solution for parents, especially during busy times like back-to-school season.”
Cultural Care Au Pair is a designated sponsor of the U.S. State Department-regulated au pair program, and has placed more than 145,000 au pairs in American homes over the past 35 years.
