The RAPID Survey Project partners with cities, counties, and states across the U.S. to listen to parents and caregivers with children under age 6. Their voices and experiences provide snapshots of what life is like for those raising young children in communities across the country and help to spot national trends. The goal of the project is to lift up parent voices to inform local policies and programs that support families. Learn more about our work and where we conduct surveys.
We partnered with The Connecticut Project and community-based organizations in the state to hear directly from Connecticut families of all races, ethnicities, and income levels, about the contexts and circumstances in which young children are developing. Our surveys have included questions about the economic well-being of families and households.
One way RAPID does this is by asking parents about their experiences of material hardship, defined as difficulty in the last month affording basic needs, such as food, housing, utilities, child care, and healthcare. Consistent access to basic needs contributes to stable home environments and economic well-being that support healthy development of young children and their families.
This fact sheet reports on survey data gathered between September 2024 and October 2024 from 1,163 Connecticut parents of children under age 6 across all eight counties in the state. It focuses on what caregivers told us about their experiences of material hardship and economic well-being.
The Connecticut Project and its partners will use this information to inform early learning and care professionals, policymakers, funders, economic and workforce developers, intermediaries, and business leaders so that program and policy recommendations are reflective of the experiences of families.
More than half of surveyed families have difficulty meeting basic needs
Economic well-being is critical to families’ ability to access essentials, like food and housing, and other resources that support the healthy, positive development of young children. To understand family economic well-being, we asked Connecticut parents with young children about experiences of material hardship.
More than one in two (54%) parents surveyed report difficulty affording at least one area of basic need in the past month. We see the highest rates of material hardship (65%) among Connecticut families living in rural areas of the state.
More than one in three (36%) parents surveyed specifically experience difficulty paying for utilities. Large numbers of parents in the survey also report difficulty affording housing (27%), child care (26%), food (25%), wellness support (24%), and healthcare (24%).
Percentage of surveyed parents reporting material hardship by source
In open-ended questions, parents write about these challenges.
“It is stressful making sure we always have enough money to pay for everything. Sometimes we have to transfer money out of savings. Before we had a child I worked full-time and it was not hard, but now I am part-time so that we don’t have to pay for child care, which would have been too expensive for us.” Parent in Haddam, CT
“We’ve had to cut our grocery budget and spending in general and we’ve tapped into our savings quite a bit. We had to go on state health insurance because we couldn’t afford to pay for insurance and my husband’s job doesn’t cover it.” Parent in Killingly, CT
“We are living off paycheck to paycheck and it’s challenging for my family. The constant stress about money really affects our family relationships.” Parent in New Britain, CT
“The stress of not being able to sustain monthly costs and using what savings we have leaves us worried about the future. We do not qualify for any daycare assistance and paying for daycare costs is 51% of our income.” Parent in Windham, CT
Many surveyed families report difficulty paying for electricity
More than one in three (36%) parents report having difficulty paying for utilities in the past month. We asked these parents which specific utilities they had difficulty paying for, allowing parents to select more than one category of utilities in their response.
More than three in four (79%) reported difficulty affording electricity bills. Connecticut parents also reported difficulty affording gas (52%), internet (51%), phone (47%), oil (36%), and water (32%).
Percentage of surveyed parents reporting utility hardship by source
Connecticut families living in rural areas are particularly affected, with 83% of surveyed parents having difficulty affording electricity. These reports of limited access to electricity are particularly concerning for rural communities in Connecticut, which may be more vulnerable to the impacts of power outages due to their remote locations and limited access to repair and maintenance resources, as well as emergency services.
“Prices continue to go up whether it’s light company, gas, oil, or rent. Then I have to use my credit card to keep up, but the debt just continues. The amount of money I make does not balance with current inflation of things and I do not qualify for state assistance.” Parent in Hartford, CT
“Cost of living is entirely too high. Electricity rates have almost doubled since 2020. Mostly in debt due to the cost of living increasing and wages staying stagnant.” Parent in Putnam, CT
“We have been very fortunate to receive some help from our church and other charitable organizations, which has helped keep us afloat. Unfortunately, we are just above the threshold of qualifying for food stamps, and yet not making enough to cover our basic needs. We do our best to stay rooted in our faith, and not let our children be aware of anything relating to finances, but it is stressful. It is a source of anxiety.” Parent in Winchester, CT
Lower-income surveyed families face particular challenges to their economic well-being
We also asked Connecticut parents about their overall financial well-being. One in four (25%) said they are not financially secure and an additional 42% described themselves as only “somewhat financially secure.”
Of the surveyed families, 24% live below 30% of the state median income. Among these very low-income families, 22% do not have a bank account, 69% do not have money set aside that’s considered savings, and 80% say they would not be able to pay an emergency expense of $1,000 without going into debt.
These data point to the difficulties meeting economic well-being that low-income Connecticut families with young children face, and can inform policies and programs that support the positive development of children in these families.
“We still have savings but we are rapidly running out of them because I lost my job and I’m the only one that was working. My wife takes care of our 2 year old toddler. So we try to save as much as we can.” Parent in North Haven, CT
“My car broke down and I had to purchase a new one but did not have an emergency fund.” Parent in Danbury, CT
“We feel so embarrassed about our financial assistance leading to social isolation.” Parent in Norfolk, CT
Economic conditions are making it difficult for many surveyed families to pay bills on time
We asked Connecticut parents with young children about their experiences of overdue bills and debt payments.
More than half (54%) of Connecticut parents with young children surveyed face overdue bills or debt. For these parents, the most prevalent types of debt are credit card balances (56%), medical bills (40%), utility bills (40%), student loan balances (36%), money owed to family and friends (24%), and rent (23%).
Percentage of surveyed parents reporting debt by source
The data show that some Connecticut families are particularly affected:
- 60% of surveyed Connecticut families living in rural areas have overdue bills or debt.
- 71% of surveyed Connecticut families living below 30% of the state median income have overdue bills or debt. In contrast, 31% of surveyed Connecticut families living above 80% of the state median income have overdue bills or debt.
- 70% of Connecticut families with a child with a disability have overdue bills or debt.
Additionally, in open-ended questions, parents write about financial struggles, including running out of money before bills are due and struggling to make ends meet. These data point to the need to consider parents’ concerns and experiences in designing policy, so parents with young children are better supported in providing the caregiving that is essential to their young children’s development.
“In today’s economy, everything has gotten to the point where it’s hard to pay everything at once or even multiple payments.” Parent in Bristol, CT
“We got caught in a payday loan trap when we were short on rent for one month. Now, the interest is eating us alive. These predatory loans should be illegal. Policymakers need to protect families from these high-interest loans that keep people in debt.” Parent in Fairfield, CT
“Our family gets by with our bills on a monthly basis, but we do not make enough to make a significant contribution to debt each month. We are constantly looking for ways to cut back on our spending so we can find extra cash to put towards debt or avoid adding more debt to what we already have.” Parent in Enfield, CT
Conclusion
Consistent access to basic needs is key to a stable home environment, and the stability created by economic well-being supports the healthy development of young children and their families. Many Connecticut parents with young children, and particularly families with lower incomes and families living in rural areas of the state, are facing economic circumstances that make it hard to meet basic needs that are critical to providing healthy, responsive caregiving. Experiencing financial insecurity, material hardship, and difficulty paying debts can undermine families’ economic stability and children’s positive health, development, and well-being. Given the high rates of economic hardship, there is a need to ensure parents and families of young children receive early and necessary support so that parents can provide the stable, nurturing care that is essential to healthy development in early childhood.
The Connecticut Project aims to make these findings available to advocacy organizations and policymakers who are in position to improve economic circumstances in support of healthier, thriving families and communities now and in the future. Together with the insights parents shared in their responses to open-ended questions, these data can inform policies and programs to better support Connecticut’s youngest children and their families.
