Today was the final day of Dashboard Week, and I think it was the toughest one yet! With only half a day to complete our dashboards, timeboxing was absolutely crucial. There was no room for procrastination, every minute counted!
Our task was to explore a dataset on childcare from the Department of Labor. The dataset had a lot of columns, which threw us off at first, but thankfully, it was pretty clean. After a quick run-through in Alteryx, we cleaned things up and dropped any unnecessary columns, making it easier to focus on the main story.
I chose to focus on the relationship between household income and the rise in childcare prices. Why? Because the cost of childcare is a huge burden for so many families, especially as prices have been rising faster than incomes in many places. Understanding this trend is essential for highlighting the affordability gap and the strain on household budgets. The insights really brought to light how, despite the steady rise in childcare prices, the percentage of income spent on childcare hasn’t shifted much at the median level—though we know it’s a much bigger burden for lower-income families.
With the clock ticking, I got to work on the dashboard, focusing on visualizing income growth vs. childcare price increases. It was a bit of a sprint, but I managed to finish just in time, squeezing every last bit of productivity out of those final moments! Here’s a snapshot of my dashboard, or check them in my Tableau!
And that’s it, Dashboard Week is officially over! It’s been a mix of data, deadlines, and not enough sleep! It’s amazing to see how much can be accomplished in just a few hours with a little (or a lot!) of focus.