Legal Background Briefing: Child Care Cost, December 2003

This background briefing provides information on the relative costs of child care, identifies the laws providing the major sources of public support available to assist families with child care costs, and indicates how to access the sources of support. References to the Iowa Code are to the 2003 Iowa Code and 2003 Iowa Code Supplement. Among the states, Iowa has one of the highest proportions of children living with working parents, indicating there is a strong degree of need for child care services in the state. The 2000 census showed that of Iowa's general population of 2,926,324, approximately 25 percent are children