The impact of inflation continues to burden families on a wide range of issues, such as childcare.
A report by the online caregiver listing service Urban Sitter found that babysitting costs are outpacing the current inflation rate, weighing upon families across the country, with a 9.7 percent jump in rates for sitters in 2022.
The average cost per hour for a sitter was $22.68 for one child and $27.70 for two. The increase is being linked to a number of factors, including the need for longer care times as many Americans return to the office full time and a shortage of available workers, allowing the available ones to charge higher rates.
While the federal government deems 7 percent or less of a family's income spent on childcare as being affordable, a Care.com survey found that more than half of Americans were spending upwards of 20 percent of their earnings.
As surging costs continue to take their toll on families, more states are beginning to provide childcare aid, according to Axios. Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island are among those to offer programs, and even many businesses are stepping up to help their employees in an effort to ease the burden.
Hershey is cautioning on its 2024 profit growth as the company contends with rising cocoa costs, leading to increased prices for chocolate. The company anticipates its full-year earnings per share being relatively flat, partly due to higher cocoa and sugar costs.
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