Childcare costs eat up a huge portion of many Alabama families' budgets.

Just how big? That's what a new report from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee ventured to find out. The report shows a typical U.S. family will spend more than 15 percent of its total income on infant child care alone.

In Alabama, the average family with an infant spends $5,644 a year for childcare. With a median income of $53,146, that means roughly 11 percent of the family's income goes towards childcare. The yearly cost drops slightly - to $4,877 - once a child reaches four-years-old.

Single Alabama mothers - who have a median income of $19,634 - spend 29 percent of their income on childcare.

While both percentages are high, they are exceptionally low on the national scale. The percentage of income for infant care is the second-lowest in the country, beat out only by South Dakota at 9.6 percent.

Nationally, the average childcare cost is $10,476 a year for an infant and $8,469 a year for a 4-year-old child. With the U.S. median income of $68,260, that makes the average share of income spent on infant care almost 15 percent. Among single mothers, who have a median income of $25,274, childcare eats up a whopping 42 percent of income.

Children who receive high-quality early education do better on math and reading tests and are more likely to attend and graduate from college.

Find the article here.