Child care costs rise as supply declines, report finds

For many families, affordable child care is increasingly out of reach

Many Bay Area families struggling to keep up with skyrocketing housing prices may have to add another increasing expense to the list: child care.

The cost for full-time annual infant care at licensed day care centers increased in each of the nine Bay Area counties between 2017 and 2019, new data from the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network shows, with average fees in San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Marin, and Santa Clara Counties now topping more than $20,000 each year.

The biennial study, which tracks child care costs and spaces across all California counties, also found that the Bay Area experienced the sharpest decline in supply of child care during the same time period, with a 1% decrease in spaces in child care centers and a 6% decrease in spaces in family child care homes. The nonprofit network compared the Bay Area to three other regions in the state: the North, the Central Valley, and the South.

Gemma Dimatteo, the organization’s research director, says she was a “little surprised’ to see the largest declines in the Bay Area, but guesses they could be linked to the region’s increasing housing costs and strong job market. Family care providers often work long hours for little pay, Dimatteo says, and could be attracted to higherpaying jobs with benefits in other industries.

“We did a survey in nine counties of family child care providers a few years ago and some of the main reasons they listed for challenges in staying open or the reasons they closed were low wages, other job opportunities that pay better and have benefits, and housing issues,” she says.

The Bay Area data reflects broader statewide trends. The organization found child care is largely unaffordable for California families while spaces in day care centers and homes dwindle. Between 2008 and 2019, the number of family child care homes decreased 33% statewide, which researchers say is a particularly worrisome trend.

“Family child care providers uniquely meet the needs of many working families,” Dimatteo says. “They are more likely to care for infants and toddlers which is a type of care that is hard to find. They have more affordable care options, smaller group sizes, and are more likely to provide nontraditional hours of care.”

This article is part of

The California Divide, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequity and economic survival in California.