SMTS-04 - The Care-Economy Cost Burden. The Care Cost Squeeze: Childcare, Elder Care, and the Economics of Household Mobility

This paper examines how rising childcare and elder-care costs function as a structural constraint on U.S. household mobility and labor-market dynamism. Care-related expenditures and availability constraints operate not only as affordability pressures but as capability limitations that reduce households’ ability to relocate for higher-wage employment, pursue occupational advancement, or adjust working hours. These frictions disproportionately affect mid- and lower-income households and primary caregivers, with measurable implications for female labor-force participation, regional reallocation, and aggregate productivity growth.The analysis identifies five core drivers of the care-cost squeeze: local capacity scarcity, labor-intensive cost structures, fragmented and non-portable benefit design, information asymmetries in local care markets, and liquidity constraints tied to relocation. It maps reinforcing feedback mechanisms—particularly the care–mobility loop, the female labor participation channel, and subsidy cliff effects—that sustain immobility and suppress upward mobility across regions.The paper proposes an integrated policy architecture to reposition care from a constraint to a mobility enabler. Key instruments include Modular Mobility Care Vouchers (time-limited relocation-linked supports), Regional Care Capacity Grants tied to measurable supply expansion, Portable Care Benefit Accounts with mixed public–private financing, employer–public mobility partnerships, and national care placement data infrastructure. Reform of cliff-prone subsidy structures and improved portability mechanisms are central to preserving work and relocation incentives.Evaluation metrics focus on mobility rates among care-dependent households, care-slot growth, affordability ratios, female labor-force reattachment, and fiscal returns from improved reallocation. The study argues that treating care policy as part of a national mobility strategy can enhance labor-market fluidity, strengthen productivity diffusion, and reduce structural regional disparities over the 2025–2035 decade.Upcoming: AAI - 02 - Responsibility Without a Bearer (26 Feb).Upcoming: PFS - 05 - Infrastructure & Digital Backbone Constraints (3 Mar).