Child care costs squeeze San Diego families and providers
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Finding affordable child care in San Diego is getting harder for parents as providers face rising costs to run daycares.
Why it matters: The rising prices are piling onto local families' growing expenses that make living in San Diego costly while forcing some moms out of their jobs.
Zoom in: San Diego parents can expect to spend between $16,500 and $21,100 for one year of infant care, and about $15,000 annually for a preschooler, recent YMCA data shows.
- That's more than double the cost of undergraduate tuition at San Diego State University.
By the numbers: The latest countywide averages from the YMCA cited by child care advocates show rates vary drastically based on a child's age.
For family child care homes:
- Infant: $318 per week
- Preschool: $290 per week
- School age: $259 per week
For child care centers:
- Infant: $406 per week
- Preschool: $293 per week
- School age: $243 per week
Context: Many middle class families don't qualify for financial support.
- "There's a very large child care chasm between those that can actually afford to pay for childcare and those that are income-eligible and can access subsidies," San Diego County YMCA senior vice president of social services Kim McDougal told Axios.
- The YMCA is the state-designated one-stop shop for child care resources and referrals.
Follow the money: The price of child care has gone up over the last three years as food, housing expenses, health care for staff, supplies and play materials have all become more expensive, McDougal said.
- It's also more expensive to provide care for babies than preschool-age children, primarily because babies require more attention and staff, she said.
- As a result, providers have decreased staff wages or kept them stagnant to keep their doors open and meet the needs of families, she said.
- The median annual earnings for San Diego County providers in a family child care home are $35,000-$45,000, while teachers in child care centers make $18-$27 per hour, per a 2025 workforce report from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley. The low pay makes those positions hard to fill.
Case in point: Sarah Song provides child care at her National City home for up to 12 children, from newborns to 5-year-olds, with her husband and part-time employees.
- She recently raised her prices about $20 to $1,400 for infants and $1,260 for preschoolers per month.
- The cost of insurance, food, gas and electricity have gone up for Song recently, but she said she can't charge families that much more because they're facing the same affordability problems at home.
- "I'm undercharging families, but I'm aware of where I live and what I aim to provide," said Song, who has a master's degree in child development. "I'm just making enough so I can pay my bills and have a little extra."
The intrigue: California's expanding the transitional kindergarten program to include 4-year-olds has helped and hurt the situation.
- Parents can save money by sending their kids to school for free a year earlier, but child care providers lose that revenue, which helped offset the higher cost of caring for babies.
The bottom line: Local parents (including those expecting) and child care providers should reach out to the San Diego County YMCA to learn more about their options.