The True Cost of Quality Child Care in Washington A report by the Washington Child Care Collaborative Task Force | Page 59

Cost of Care Using MIT Living Wage Salary Scale

Cost of Care Using MIT Living Wage Salary Scale

This second scenario uses the MIT Living Wage salary data option as the wage selection , identifying the true cost of care when everyone working in child care earns at least a living wage . Table 9 details the estimated annual cost of care in a center , while Table 10 provides the same for a family child care home under scenario 2 . Figures 9 and 10 illustrate the gap between the cost of care and current WCCC subsidy rates at the licensed level .
Table 9 : Annual cost per child , scenario 2 , child care center
Age Group
Central WA
Eastern WA
King & Pierce
Northwest WA
Olympic Peninsula
Southwest WA
Statewide
Infants $ 29,767 $ 29,977 $ 35,304 $ 32,666 $ 31,303 $ 31,246 $ 34,074
Toddlers $ 21,863 $ 22,009 $ 25,704 $ 23,875 $ 22,929 $ 22,889 $ 24,851
Preschoolers $ 18,702 $ 18,822 $ 21,864 $ 20,358 $ 19,579 $ 19,546 $ 21,162 School age $ 9,232 $ 9,291 $ 10,786 $ 10,046 $ 9,663 $ 9,647 $ 10,441
Figure 9 : Comparison between annual cost per child , and WCCC base subsidy rate , scenario 2 , child care center , statewide average
$ 40,000
$ 35,000
$ 34,074
$ 30,000
$ 25,000
$ 24,851
$ 21,162
$ 20,000
$ 15,000
$ 10,000
$ 18,234
$ 15,533
$ 14,094
$ 10,441
$ 6,355
$ 5,000
$ 0 Infants Toddlers Preschoolers School age
Cost per Child WCCC Base Rate
18