How America's 'childcare deserts' are driving women out of the workforce

The cost of childcare and the cost as a share of families’ incomes have risen across the country for decades. Today, roughly one in four families spend more than 10% of their income on childcare, including more than half of families below the poverty line and two out of five families earning twice the poverty level.That’s if they can find licensed childcare at all. 51% of the population resides in “childcare deserts,”. neighborhoods,  where the number of children under age 5 outnumber available daycare slots more than3 to 1, and countless families rely on relatives, unlicensed daycare, or schedules arranged so parents can trade off as caretakers. Studies show the burden falling heavier on mothers. It’s women who are more likely to leave the workforce after becoming parents, often never to work full-time again."