Student parents need to work 50 hours per week to afford childcare, tuition in US: report

Childcare costs and soaring tuition at America’s public colleges and universities have proven especially burdensome for students with children, leaving many with no choice but to put in extra hours at work.  

Low-income student parents need to work at least 50 hours on average per week at minimum wage –after accounting for grants, scholarships and ten hours of minimum wage work – to cover both childcare costs and tuition, according to a new report from The Education Trust and Generation Hope. 

Researchers found that student parents are disproportionately single, students of color and from low-income backgrounds. 

Tuition at four-year public colleges has increased by 28 percent since 2008, with the cost, including room and board and other supplies, exceeding $25,000 annually.  

But student parents’ out-of-pocket costs are still two to five times higher than their peers without kids, as student parents face childcare costs that can be more than $7,500 a year per child, according to estimates from California Competes.  

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“This report provides real data to reinforce the fact that student parents not only face more barriers than other students when it comes to earning a postsecondary credential but also significant financial barriers,” Nicole Lynn Lewis, founder and CEO of Generation Hope, said in a media release. 

“Our hope is that policymakers and education leaders will use these findings to provide more funding and access to existing resources for this deserving student population.” 

Several federal solutions to the affordability crisis offered by the authors include doubling Pell Grants, raising minimum wage to $20 per hour and increasing funding to early childhood programs.

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