One of the problems that most, if not all single mothers and parents for that matter face is paying for daycare in order to work. With so many other bills that require your attention and then trying to find affordable childcare so that you can work, it can become a burden almost worthy of not trying to work at all.

However, there is some hope. A reader recently contacted me about wanting to learn more about some resources that are available to help pay for daycare services in order for her to work. The problem she had was that she was basically working to pay for childcare. This doesn’t make working “work”!

So, I went searching in order to compile some good resources for finding help in paying for daycare or childcare services. If you know of any Federal, State or local organizations that help with this, please share them or contact me and I will add them to the list.

Since so many of my readers are from various locations, here is one of the first stops that you should go to in order to get the most relevant information about the services available in your state. The Administration for Children and Families website by the US Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) provides a current listing of the child care resource and referral agency (CCR&R) for your state. This list will put you in contact with the state agency that can either provide the help for childcare or point you in the right direction.

Another great resource is the ChildcareAware website. There are lots of great resources here for you to check out, however one of the biggest things I found on the site was that they have a calculator that helps you to see if it is worth going back to work or staying home. While this isn’t an option for single parents usually, it can be a good resource to add another set of figures into your budget or give you some additional thoughts. Check out the Stay at home or go back to work tool and also you can view the document that helps you Find help for paying for childcare.

There are also some resources from the Internal Revenue Service that I found. One of the more complicated or misunderstood areas that I have struggled with is trying to figure out the child tax credit and the childcare credits that you can claim on your taxes. Here are a couple of resources that hopefully explain these a little more clearly.

Here are some other national resources and organizations also that can possibly help you in your search for childcare assistance too: