Childcare can be prohibitively expensive. Here's how much Marylanders are spending, and what the state is doing to help

BALTIMORE -- The task of finding affordable childcare can be overwhelming for many parents, forcing some to make tough decisions about their budgets and even their jobs.

Three times a week, Mindy Bowman-Weatherly drops off her two-year-old daughter, Maëlle, at the Downtown Baltimore Child Care Center.

The act of trying to balance the single mom's life of raising three children and pursuing a full-time college degree means childcare is vital.

"I know I couldn't be the mom for my other two with her being home with me," Bowman-Weatherly said.

With the center just a 10-minute walk from home and open from 7:30 am to 6 p.m., Bowman-Weatherly relies on this center's convenience. 

"That's always a worry for moms," she said. "It's the pick-up and the drop off times and the revolving window of things you have to do all the time."

The gated doors, the serving of meals, and the outdoor playground mixed with the small group indoor classroom learning reassured Bowman-Weatherly that her daughter would be safe at this childcare center.

But it comes at a cost. Every month she pays $475. 

"That's low," she said.

It's only at that reduced price because of the state Childcare Scholarship Bowman-Weatherly receives.

But she feels like she is begging for help.

"That's what sucks with the American childcare system," she said. "It's really messed up because it doesn't support parents. It doesn't support moms."

According to the Maryland Family Network, for a family of four in Baltimore City, childcare costs nearly $23,000 a year. But that's nearly 32 percent of their budgets. 

"My first thought is the federal government has a standard that no family should be spending more than 7 percent of their income on childcare costs," Maryland Family Network Executive Director Laura Weeldreyer said. "So, ouch we are pretty far away from that."

Weeldreyer said childcare is priced so high because expenses to maintain the centers keep rising. From the cost of snacks and diapers to the hike in rent and utility bills.

"A family is expecting a baby and people say to them jokingly like have you started saving for college," Weeldreyer said. "Really we should be asking them have they started saving for childcare."

During the coronavirus pandemic, federal dollars were sent to Maryland to expand Childcare Scholarships to help more families, but the financial aid expired.

Gov. Wes Moore then carved out more money in the 2025 state budget for the program, marking a major investment in childcare. But it doesn't stop childcare prices from rising.

That is a daunting thought for Bowman-Weatherly as Maëlle still needs three more years of childcare.

"I have absolutely no idea [what I'm going to do] and that's the thing, you just don't know," Bowman-Weatherly said. "It's literally going all the way to legislative and literally just trying to get them to hear us and we're important too. Help us."

The Maryland Family Network predicts that the number of family childcare providers in the state will dip by about 41% from 2023 to 2026.

The network hopes the governor's investment in childcare will keep reimbursement rates up for these providers and incentivize them to keep their doors open to serve the thousands of families that rely on it.