Child Care is Unaffordable in New Hampshire for Most Households

Affordable child care is defined by the federal government as no more than 7 percent of a household’s income. In 2022, center-based care for an infant in New Hampshire averaged $15,340 a year. For 2017-2021, a married-couple family would have had to have spent 11 percent of their household income to afford this care, while single male householders would have had to have spent 23 percent of their income for care and single female householders 36 percent. These data suggest that, for the majority of New Hampshire households, the price of child care is unaffordable by this measure.