INDIANAPOLIS — Morgan Jonas of Indianapolis is the mother of four kids. She's a stay-at-home mom, but not by choice. Like many families, child care started to get expensive.
"For my daughter, I was looking at $350 a week," said Jonas. "It's very, very hard to find not only somebody that you can trust, but also somebody that's going to be affordable."
Jonas is among countless moms who say childcare isn't affordable for many families.
According to a new study from CNBC, Indiana ranked the worst state for access to child care. Indiana also ranked the second worst state for quality of life.
"That's insane. Absolutely insane," said Jonas.
The report is called "America's Top States for Business." Many companies look at a state's quality of life to determine if they can attract and retain employees, before setting up shop. States were scored on livability factors like crime, health care and child care.
The issue is supply versus demand. Researchers found 772 Indiana licensed facilities in the state of about 7 million people. Many Hoosier moms continue to be on waitlists for daycares and even after their child or children get accepted, they have to pay several hundreds of dollars a week.
Two weeks ago, Jonas made the tough decision to quit her job.
"I want to work. I want to do things. I want to be a part of the team and I definitely felt terrible about having to leave. I really did," she said.
Jonas is hoping lawmakers enact changes to make programs more accessible, like the Child Care and Development Fund — a federal program that helps low-income families with child care costs.
"They do have a greater income limit than for example, SNAP or for WIC even, but it still doesn't make up for the difference of being a two household income and providing for four children and CCDF says, 'No, you make too much money.' Excuse me. Have you looked at my life," said Jonas.
Jonas said if lawmakers can extend the income guidelines or provide more funding, more families could be helped.
If you are having trouble finding child care, Child Care Answers partners with the state and local agencies to try and find solutions.