Infant daycare more expensive than university tuition in Florida

As we've previously established, the rent is too damn high, and according to a new report so is child care. 

Conducted by Child Care Aware of America, the study called "Parents and the High Cost of Child Care," found that a year of child-care for an infant costs about $8,694 while a year of tuition and fees at a Florida university totals an average of $6,351. It gets slightly better as your child grows, with the average child care costs for a 4-year-old being $7,668, and for school-age children, the cost is $3,962.

Florida ranked 22nd on the list for least-affordable states for infant childcare, with Minnesota at $14,366 being the most expensive state. The median income for a single-parent family was surprisingly similar with Minnesota at $26,795 and Florida at $24,860. 

"Unfortunately, the picture for families has not improved in this time and child care remains one of the most significant expenses in a family budget," writes Lynette Fraga, the group's executive director, in the report. "In many states, child care exceeds the cost of housing, college tuition, transportation, or food. Unlike all other areas of education, including colleges and universities, families pay the majority of costs for early education for young children. These costs generally come when parents are at the beginning of their careers—a time when families can least afford them."