Childcare around Kansas City has become as expensive as rent. Heres what could help parents. [Video]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Having children is forcing more parents to step back from their careers largely because the price of daycare is outpacing their budgets. The Kansas City metro is no exception with average monthly daycare costs for toddlers and infants almost as expensive as the average rent.

Daycares like Happy Hearts Learning Center have only had to raise their rates once since they opened in January 2021. Still, the center’s owners are concerned for the future of the whole childcare industry as higher prices push more parents to stay home with their kids all day.

After giving birth to her third son, Alex Kitchen returned to work for just a month. It didn’t take long to realize she and her husband couldn’t afford to have all three kids in daycare.

“It was getting close to about $40,000 a year,” Kitchen said, “for all three of them to …