U. S. researchers have said that finding affordable child care is always a challenge but it also can be the reason why some young parents drop out of college.

The college dropout rates of traditional undergraduate students -- college freshmen who have just transitioned from high school -- who are also full-time parents is a growing problem, further exacerbated by the dearth of acceptable child care options for students pursuing a bachelor's degree, said, Brent McBride, a professor of human development at Illinois.

McBride said that students who are new parents are three times as likely as traditional undergraduates to drop out of college, even though the number of hours needed for child care in college is much less than when a parent is working full time.

McBride said in a statement," If you're a student-parent, you're at greater risk of not succeeding at any type of institution of higher education simply because you're a parent, and the hardships and hurdles are that much higher. The vast majority of their peers are traditional undergraduate students, so there's no organization to support them, and no way for them to congregate and seek out others in their situation."

McBride further added that marginalizing someone who is unable to complete a college degree simply because of a child care issue is, from a social justice perspective, a tragic mistake to make. (With Input from Agencies)