(KLZA)-- The 2023 KIDS COUNT data has been released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, revealing household data and ranking Nebraska 8th among the 50 states in child well-being.

The rankings are based on 16 indicators in four domains including economic well-being, health, and family and community factors.

This year the report highlights challenges in accessing affordable child care. It shows that parents in Nebraska must frequently miss work or even quit their jobs due to a lack of stable child care. These child care challenges cost the American economy an estimated $122 billion a year in lost earnings, productivity and tax revenue and can stymie women professionally.

Nebraska's median cost of center-based childcare for one toddler in 2021 was $10,422 which is 10 percent of the median income of a married couple and 31 percent of a single mothers income in the state.

The average cost of child care in Nebraska, is higher than in-state tuition at a four-year public university which comes to $9,093.

Six percent of young Nebraska children were in families in which someone quit, changed or refused a job because child care is hard to find and even harder to afford.

The median pay for child care workers in Nebraska was $28,520 annually or $13.71 per hour in 2022, less than the wages for retail work at $14.26 per hour and customer service workers at $18.16 per hour.

The KIDS COUNT Data Book predicts costs for child care could increase even more this fall if Congress does not act. Emergency pandemic funds that have helped 222,000 child care providers stay afloat will run out September 30. Without action by Congress to renew those funds, child care providers will almost certainly have to increase their fees.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Voices for Children in Nebraska, the state's KIDS COUNT grantee, calls for more government investment in child care including expanding existing programs and creating new initiatives to support families and caregivers.

More information is available on the report at www.aecf.org.