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The number of licensed centers has returned to and surpassed pre-pandemic levels in 41 states measured in the latest Child Care Aware (CCA) trend report. However, while the decline is slowing, licensed family child care has decreased by 11% since 2019. Overall, there is still a shortage of care.

The report highlights the national average cost of care in 2022 was $10,853, 10% of the median income for married couples and 33% of that for single parents, well over the 7% recommended by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

CCA concludes that federal relief during the pandemic demonstrates that investment in child care works:

“While child care providers and the families they work with continue to face a myriad of challenges, 2022 showed what can be done with investment and good policy. Every state leveraged federal relief funding, on top of annual federal and state child care funding, to provide grants to child care programs, invest in the compensation of child care professionals, and stabilize the sector overall.”

Child Care Aware offers a free social media toolkit for those who’d like to “get involved in the effort to ensure that every family in the U.S. has access to a high-quality, affordable child care system.”

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