Mounting Day Care Cost Forcing New York Parents to Leave State and Move Somewhere Else: New Report
Many parents are choosing to leave New York City with their young children as the urban environment is becoming less welcoming for young children and their caregivers.. Rising housing and daycare expenses are responsible for the increase.
There has been a significant increase in the number of families with children under six leaving New York City compared to other groups.
Rising childcare and housing expenses force families to relocate, with monthly daycare fees ranging from $2,000 to $4,000.
Report Statistics
A recent report from the Fiscal Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, reveals that families with children under six years old are significantly more inclined to relocate from New York City compared to families without young kids. Many households have been leaving the city and state in large numbers, a trend that has intensified during the pandemic. The main factors behind this exodus are the skyrocketing housing and childcare expenses.
Families with children aged six or older are leaving the city at similar rates to families without children. This indicates that the expenses specifically linked to young children, such as childcare and the requirement for additional space, are the factors driving families away from urban areas, according to FPI’s findings.
According to the report, individuals who are departing New York City are now expressing a greater interest in finding housing that is more affordable, compared to their pre-pandemic preferences. The city is grappling with an extremely challenging situation when it comes to housing affordability.
Median rents have soared to $3,700, while median home prices have reached a staggering $785,000. To make matters worse, the housing inventory is currently at its lowest point in over 50 years. More and more millennials are choosing to settle in the outskirts of the city, where housing prices are generally more affordable.
Another Evidence
According to a report from Business Insider last year, the cost of childcare in New York City is significantly higher than what is considered affordable by the US government, with the average family spending over a quarter of their income on this expense. According to a report by The New York Times, it is becoming increasingly challenging for families to afford the cost of daycare for a single child in the city, with an annual income of over $300,000 being necessary.
Daycare and preschool programs in the city typically have monthly fees ranging from $2,000 to $4,000 per child. In 2019, the city comptroller reported that the average cost of childcare for a baby under 18 months old is approximately $21,000 per year for a typical family.
In a distressing turn of events, numerous parents of young children were plunged into a state of panic a few months ago. This occurred when New York City Mayor Eric Adams made the announcement that he would be reducing funding by a staggering $567 million for public preschool programs catering to three-year-olds. Adams changed his mind this spring in response to strong objections from local political leaders and parents.
Lower-income households and people of color are disproportionately affected by the affordability crisis. A significant number of individuals departing New York City are from Black and Hispanic communities. According to a recent study by FPI, it was discovered that a significantly higher percentage of Black New Yorkers (45%) and Hispanic New Yorkers (34%) are more likely to relocate from the state compared to the rest of the population.
Families of Color Moving Rapidly
Black families are increasingly choosing to leave New York City as part of a larger movement known as the “New Great Migration.” This trend involves Black families relocating from expensive northern cities to the suburbs and the South, where the cost of living is more affordable. Over the past two decades, New York City has experienced a significant decline in its Black population, with a decrease of approximately 9%. Similarly, from 2010 to 2020, the city has seen a substantial decrease of over 19% in its Black children and teenagers.
Final Say
As expected, households with higher incomes are significantly less affected by these challenges related to the cost of living. Last year, FPI reported that a significant number of millionaires relocated to New York City between 2020 and 2022, while a smaller number chose to leave. According to recent findings by the Institute, individuals in New York earning $800,000 or more annually are significantly less likely to relocate from the city compared to those with lower incomes.
