Katy Dicks, a mother of two and co-lead of the Wisconsin chapter of Mother Forward, has spent almost $170,000 on childcare so far. The cost has contributed to credit card debt. It is the reason she and her husband decided not to have a third child.
She shared these numbers publicly, ahead of the August primaries, while calling on candidates running for Wisconsin governor to take a stronger stance on policies that would help working families. Her story is not unusual. It is the arithmetic of American childcare.
"We are contributing to the economy tenfold," Dicks said in an interview with WXPR. "We're also raising children that we hope and pray will be productive members of society. So we are doing our work, trying to build our communities. We're just asking for infrastructure to help."
The Math Does Not Work
The average cost of center-based infant childcare in the United States is approximately $14,000 per year. In many states, it exceeds $20,000. For two children, the annual cost can exceed $40,000, which is more than many families' mortgage payments and, in much of the country, more than college tuition.
These numbers are not sustainable for most families. According to the Department of Labor, in a majority of US counties, the cost of childcare for two children exceeds the cost of a mortgage. Yet childcare workers, the people doing this essential work, earn a median wage of approximately $13 per hour. The system fails families on both ends. Parents cannot afford to pay more, and workers cannot afford to live on what centers can pay them.
The pandemic made this visible. Federal stabilization funds kept many childcare centers afloat from 2021 through 2024. When those funds dried up, centers faced a binary choice: raise tuition or close. Many did both.
The Mother Forward Movement
Mother Forward is a grassroots coalition of mothers advocating for universal childcare, paid family leave, and increased maternal health support. The organization launched a website ahead of the Wisconsin primaries where voters can see where each gubernatorial candidate stands on these issues.
The group planned a virtual gubernatorial forum before the August 11 primary. Only two candidates committed to attending, which Dicks noted with frustration. The absence of candidates from a conversation about childcare reflects a broader political reality. Family policy is treated as a niche issue rather than the economic infrastructure issue it actually is.
But the movement is growing. And it is not limited to Wisconsin.
The National Picture
The childcare crisis is not a Wisconsin problem. It is a national problem hiding behind state-level variation.
In 2026, the expanded Child and Dependent Care Credit increased its top percentage to 50% under the Working Families Tax Cut legislation. The Dependent Care FSA limit rose to $7,500 for 2026. These are meaningful improvements for families who know about them and earn enough to benefit from tax credits.
But here is the catch. Most families do not maximize these benefits. Tax preparation services report that a significant percentage of eligible families fail to claim the full childcare tax credit or use dependent care FSAs. The system requires parents to navigate complex tax code provisions, submit receipts, and plan ahead financially. The mental load of claiming the benefit is itself a barrier.
And even the expanded credits do not solve the core problem. A 50% credit on $7,500 of FSA contributions helps. It does not make $170,000 in cumulative childcare costs affordable.
What Universal Childcare Would Look Like
The policy that Mother Forward and similar organizations advocate for is not radical by international standards. It is the global norm.
Every other developed nation provides some form of universal childcare or heavily subsidized early childhood education. The United States is the outlier. The arguments against it typically cite cost, but the economic research consistently shows that investments in childcare generate returns through increased workforce participation, tax revenue, and child development outcomes.
A 2024 study from the University of Chicago found that universal childcare in the US would increase GDP by approximately 1.6% within a decade. The increased tax revenue from mothers remaining in the workforce would offset a significant portion of the program's cost. The developmental benefits to children, particularly those from lower-income families, would compound for generations.
The counterargument is always about how to pay for it. But the question that gets less attention is how we are currently paying for not having it. Katy Dicks has $170,000 in childcare costs. Other mothers have left the workforce entirely, losing income, benefits, retirement contributions, and career trajectory. Childcare workers are leaving the field for better-paying jobs. Centers are closing.
The cost of inaction is not zero. It is just distributed across millions of families who absorb it privately.
The Political Moment
The Wisconsin primaries on August 11 represent a test case. Will candidates who ignore childcare policy face consequences from organized mothers?
Mother Forward is betting they will. The organization has built a candidate tracker, hosted forums, and mobilized mothers to contact campaigns. Their message is simple: if you want our votes, tell us where you stand on childcare, paid leave, and maternal health.
The strategy is intentionally bipartisan. Dicks emphasized that the group reaches out to candidates across party lines. The logic is sound. Paid leave and childcare are not inherently partisan issues. They are popular with Republican and Democratic voters alike. The division exists among politicians, not among parents.
Whether this strategy works at the ballot box remains to be seen. But the organizing itself is creating something that did not exist before. A constituency of mothers who vote specifically on family policy issues.
What This Means for Working Mothers
If you are a working mother reading this and feeling the financial pressure of childcare costs, the most important thing to know is that the problem is not your budgeting. The problem is a system that treats childcare as a private consumer expense rather than public infrastructure.
Three things you can do.
Maximize your tax benefits. If your employer offers a Dependent Care FSA, enroll. The 2026 limit is $7,500 in pre-tax dollars. Combined with the expanded Child and Dependent Care Credit at 50%, this can offset a meaningful portion of costs. Many parents leave thousands on the table.
Get involved locally. Organizations like Mother Forward, Moms First, and local advocacy groups are building political power around these issues. Find one. Add your voice.
Vote on this issue. The reason childcare policy stalls is that politicians do not fear losing elections over it. When mothers become a reliable voting bloc on family policy, the calculus changes.
The $170,000 childcare bill is not a personal failure. It is a policy choice. And policy choices can be changed.
AlphaMa is building tools to reduce the mental load on mothers because the system should not require you to carry it all alone. Learn more at alphamothers.com.