With child care unaffordable, many parents struggle to stay employed

Laura Pacific would love to find a job — if she could afford child care for her 10-year-old son. 

The 35-year-old single mom faces a common predicament for many U.S. parents, and especially women, as they juggle soaring chlld-care costs and the need to earn a living in a precarious labor market. The going rate for her day care needs where she lives in Phoenix, Arizona, is between $600 and $800 a month — more than Pacific's monthly rent.

"Day care is absolutely essential and if you don't have it, it stops a lot of the opportunities you would have outside of the home," Pacific told CBS MoneyWatch. "They say there are a lot of jobs right now, but because of the child-care situation I am not able to take advantage of any of them."