Parenting students in Washington face higher levels of basic needs insecurity than their peers
November 18, 2025
Olympia—Approximately one in five students on Washington’s college campuses care for a dependent. These parenting students face higher levels of basic needs insecurity than their peers: 68% of Washington parenting students report food insecurity, housing insecurity or both, compared to 52% of all students statewide.
These findings are from a new research brief, Designing Postsecondary Education for Parenting Students, which explores the challenges that parenting students face and strategies to help them succeed. Other key findings include:
- Most parenting students are female and come from low-income backgrounds.
- Of parenting students who need childcare, 75% say they cannot find affordable care.
- Nearly half of parenting students say that childcare provider hours don’t match their school schedules.
- The annual cost of childcare for both infants and 4-year-olds in Washington is higher than the average in-state college tuition. Infant care costs are more than double the cost of in-state college tuition and are on par with housing costs.
- Washington currently ranks eighth in the nation for most expensive childcare, with the median family spending over 15% of their income on it.
However, if state-level strategies are adopted to address these challenges, Washington has the potential to create a more educated workforce with greater economic returns for smaller communities, families and the state. The brief recommends the following key strategies to advance support for parenting students in Washington:
- Collect data on the parenting status of students to make their needs more visible.
- Design support systems to help parenting students access resources.
- Build local partnerships and community-based solutions.
- Include parenting students’ voices when creating policies and programs.
- Expand funding subsidies and other investments.
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