Unable to Afford Childcare, Student-Parents Make Tough Decisions

The U.S. Department of Education reported that 3.9 million undergraduate students were parents in 2009. Aside from money problems and time constraints, many student-parents struggle to find secure and affordable childcare.

"Having a consistent, high-quality, early childhood program brings stability for those children and their families. It's a way for families to have resources," said Maggie Summers, director of Ohio State University's Child Care Program.

"If families have resources, we know outcomes for children increase," she said.

Childcare is costly for the average parent. According to the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies, the average cost of childcare in 2010 was more than household bills, rent payments and a year's worth of tuition at a 4-year public college.

For many professionals it is a costly endeavor. However, for student-parents – 78 percent of whom are low-income according to the U.S. Department of Education – affording childcare is difficult.

To remedy this situation, on-campus childcare is available at some postsecondary institutions. For example, Ohio State University has been offering campus childcare to students, faculty and staff, since 1972. There is no priority for faculty and staff however, there is a priority for low-income student-parents who get funding from the county.

"In order to fulfill their responsibilities as students, we have to have childcare and it can't be any childcare. It really needs to be reliable, high-quality care," said Summers.

"We can talk about missing class and absenteeism, but ‘presentee-ism' – your body is there but your mind is somewhere else – is just as big a problem. It needs to be the kind of childcare they can count on, so when they're in class, they can fully be in class and not concerned about something else," she said.

Campus-based childcare does not only provide student-parents with reliable and affordable childcare. Quality early learning programs also give children skills to help them succeed in kindergarten.

Erin Horne-Montgomery, a graduate student at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and a mother of two, is pleased with the education her 3-year old son, Malachi, is getting at Howard's Early Learning Program.

"It isn't childcare. It is an actual early learning center. They go on field trips, go to convocation – they get exposed to things," said Horne-Montgomery.

When the prized clock tower above Howard University's Founders Library was damaged in an earthquake in early September, Malachi's teachers explained the whole ordeal, and the university's plans to restore it.

"He told me the clock tower at Founders was ‘damaged' during the earthquake, and that President Ribeau was going to fix it," said Horne-Montgomery.

Horne-Montgomery said she is glad to have Malachi in a legitimate early learning program, especially after the worries she had while he was in informal care. Her previous childcare provider gave her own children soft drinks, which made Horne-Montgomery fear for child's health.

"Who knows what she would give my child?" said Horne-Montgomery.

Unable to find adequate and affordable childcare, she came close to cutting her academic career short. That was until Dr. Jannette L. Dates, the former Dean of Howard University School of Communications recommended a more suitable sitter. The woman Dean Dates suggested picks Horne-Montgomery's children up from school, makes them meals, and helps them with their homework – and for an affordable price.

Unfortunately, faculty members are not always as involved, and the amount of available slots for on-campus care isn't enough to accommodate all of the student-parents who need it. The Institute for Women's Policy Research estimated that 1,124,000 openings would be necessary to meet this need. Currently, there are about 54,400 available.

Due to a combination of legal concerns and the lack of available childcare slots, some schools cater to their faculty and staff, rather than their students.

This was the problem for Angelica Echols, who had to withdraw from Georgia Southern University and return to her hometown of Atlanta, after she gave birth to her daughter, Taylor.

Unfortunately, faculty members are not always as involved, and the amount of available slots for on-campus care isn't enough to accommodate all of the student-parents who need it. The Institute for Women's Policy Research estimated that 1,124,000 openings would be necessary to meet this need. Currently, there are about 54,400 available.

Due to a combination of legal concerns and the lack of available childcare slots, some schools cater to their faculty and staff, rather than their students.

This was the problem for Angelica Echols, who had to withdraw from Georgia Southern University and return to her hometown of Atlanta, after she gave birth to her daughter, Taylor.

She said she had a bigger support system in Atlanta, plus she was concerned about finding childcare. Georgia Southern does offer on-campus childcare, but Echols did not feel that it would benefit her.

"I would like that because she would be close to me and I could go in and check on her, but the program at Georgia Southern was catered to the professors and the income of the professors. It was like $700 a month, and that's hard to come by, being a student and not having a job," said Echols.