INDIANAPOLIS — Morgan Jonas of Indianapolis is the mother of four kids. She's a stay-at-home mom, but not by choice. Like many families, childcare started to get expensive.
"For my daughter, I was looking at $350 a week," said Jonas."It's very, very hard to find not only somebody that you can trust, but also somebody that's going to be affordable.", Indiana ranked the worst state for access to child care. Indiana also ranked the second worst state for quality of life.The report is called"America's Top States for Business.
The issue is supply versus demand. Researchers found 772 Indiana licensed facilities in the state of about 7 million people. Many Hoosier moms continue to be on waitlists for daycares and even after their child or children get accepted, they have to pay several hundreds of dollars a week."I want to work. I want to do things. I want to be a part of the team and I definitely felt terrible about having to leave. I really did," she said.
Jonas said if lawmakers can extend the income guidelines or provide more funding, more families could be helped.partners with the state and local agencies to try to find solutions.