Rising Child Care Cost Strain Nebraska Family Budgets, Reduce Business Output
by Dr. Katie Bass, director of policy research, Early Futures Partnership and Dr. Sara Brady, researcher, First Five Nebraska
[As published in the Nebraska Examiner—June 15, 2026]
One of the most common questions First Five Nebraska (FFN) receives from policymakers and community leaders is “What’s the average cost of childcare in Nebraska?” The short answer: more than most families in our state can afford. The actual answer: it’s complicated.
The price that a family pays for child care isn’t straightforward – it depends on the number and age of their children, their preferences and needs, the type of child care available in their community and how all these factors contend within their family’s current financial situation.
That’s why FFN created the Nebraska Child Care Affordability Calculator. This interactive tool shows how licensed child care costs fit, or more often, do not fit, within the budgets of Nebraska families with young children. It accounts for the factors that affect what families pay for child care, along with other major household expenses. Here’s how it works:
Choose the location you want. Select the Nebraska county, and the calculator will automatically calculate the median income for families with children in that county.
Want to look more closely at income? The calculator will allow you to select different income levels. The calculator will automatically compute 185% of the federal poverty level ($59,477 for a family of 4), which is the economic reality for 1 out of every 3 children in Nebraska under age 6. You can also choose the federal poverty level ($32,150 for a family of 4) or enter a custom amount.
Change the family size or the number of children in child care by adjusting the household composition. How will a new baby change a family’s child care expenses?
The calculator automatically selects family child care as the default setting—in Nebraska, 2 out of every 3 licensed child care providers are family child care homes, which are typically the more affordable option. The majority of licensed child care slots, however, are in center-based programs. Changing this selection will automatically calculate the price of care based on the most current Nebraska Market Rate Survey. You can also manually change the prices based on your knowledge of the local market.
The calculator also automatically computes typical large expenses for families. You can customize housing expenses (rent/mortgage, utilities), transportation (car payment and gas), health insurance, and food costs.
Finally, the calculator includes an “Other” category for additional expenses families may need to include in their budgets. Although it is automatically set to “0,” we challenge you to think about which expenses aren’t included—clothing for growing children, diapers, toiletries, surprise repairs, savings, student loans, and more.
The Nebraska Child Care Affordability Calculator makes visible the financial pressures that Nebraska families with young children face every day. Child care costs are rising faster than inflation, placing increasing strain on middle-income families. At the same time, child care programs throughout the state are struggling to bring in enough revenue to cover the costs of providing quality care. Child care businesses are engaging in a difficult balancing act—raising tuition is necessary to keep their programs open, but this risks pricing families out of the market.
And it’s costing Nebraska. Inadequate access to child care leads to an estimated $1.74 billion in lost business output and $1.61 billion in lost labor income annually.
Our hope is that the calculator will actively inform policy conversations that directly affect the financial well-being of households with young children in care. If our state wishes to live up to its promise as a desirable place to live, work and raise a family, it is crucial to have a clear view of the child care-related financial pressures facing families and how policy decisions impact those we are counting on to sustain our communities, grow our economy and raise the next generation of Nebraskans.