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.
Tesla reported a surprise increase in sales in the third quarter as the electric car maker likely benefited from a rush by consumers to take advantage of a $7,500 credit before it expired on Sept. 30. The company reported Thursday that sales in the three months through September rose 7% compared to the same period a year ago. The gain follows two quarters of steep declines as people turned off by CEO Elon Musk’s foray into right-wing politics avoided buying his company’s cars and even protested at some dealerships. Sales rose to 497,099 vehicles, compared with 462,890 in the same period last year.
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