As Mother’s Day approaches, the 3.4 million mothers in college are performing a complicated balancing act.
[i]
According to new IWPR analysis, availability of on-campus child care continued to decline in 2014, with just half of public four-year institutions providing on-campus child care services, down from a high of 55 percent in 2003-05 (Figure 1). At community colleges, where the largest share of parents are enrolled, only 45 percent report having an on-campus center, down from over half (53 percent) in 2003-04 (Figure 1).
[ii]
Given the importance of a higher education to a family’s economic security and their children’s future success, ensuring that student mothers have access to affordable, quality care must be a priority for educational institutions, higher education advocates, and policymakers.
[i]
Barbara Gault, Lindsey Reichlin, Elizabeth Reynolds, and Meghan Froehner. 2014. “4.8 Million College Students are Raising Children.” Fact Sheet, IWPR #C424, Washington, DC: Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
[ii]
Barbara Gault, Lindsey Reichlin, Elizabeth Reynolds, and Meghan Froehner. 2014. “Campus Child Care Declining Even as Growing Numbers of Parents Attend College.” Fact Sheet, IWPR #C425, Washington, DC: Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
