Ellen Galanski News Today

Increase is helping parents pay for child care with their own pretax dollars or dependent care assistance plans. >> at least 50% of companies say they offer some form of help to their workers, whether its tax deferred options for employees to pay for child care or referral services. but only 7% say they actually provide child care options at or near the work site. >> 35 -- >> i thought it was 26. >> oh, is that a 2? >> for parents its all about changing peoples attitudes towards child care needs...

Of child care. and its been something that our country depends on. we know it affects the health, the brain development of children. i know from my own research that it affects the well being of families. and yet we languish on. >> we cant simply say well, we found someone to watch your child, your child needs to do more than survive, they need to thrive. if we want to put parents back to work, we have to help them with the solution. its not just about maternity and paternity care. ellen, thank ...

Youre talking about hundreds of dollars for one week. and i have two children. >> kadija is not alone. the rising cost of child care is being felt all across the country. according to a new report from child care aware of america, an advocacy group, the national average cost for child care is nearly $8,700 a year. single parents pay nearly 36% of their income for child care expenses for one child. while married couples pay 10%. >> child care is often an invisible economy. its just so there that ...