TL;DR While overall inflation has fallen significantly since last year, families with young children still face sharp increases in one of their biggest expenses-child care.
Many child-care providers closed permanently early in the pandemic, and child-care prices rose more slowly than the overall inflation rate from March 2021 to February 2023, while many Americans worked from home.
Childcare inflation has picked up since then as workers returning to offices fueled more demand, pay for low-wage workers jumped amid labor shortages.
Congrats to our own E and R on their new baby!