Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't get the logic (of these parents). I agree that a parent is going to know their own kid well enough to know if they're really sick or not. It's a lot of time to pack the kid up and go to daycare, then go to work only to have the uncomfortable conversation with the boss (vs just calling in the morning, or calling the MIL, a sitter, parents in a pinch, etc), going back to the daycare and pack them up and then head home. That's an incredible inconvenience and waste of time for everyone involved. I'm sure some people are guilty of making those poor decisions, but I would be surprised if it were most working parents.
The logic many of these parents give is that if the child care provider calls their work to come get their sick child the boss accepts it much better than if they call into work because their child is sick. The parent can say...."I don't have a choice. I HAVE to go get my child."
Or they felt they HAD to go in do so certain necessary tasks, attend a high profile meeting or some such significant deal.
Or since they have used up all their sick days for their own personal time off, they no longer have any paid time off.
Anyway....child care centers are also ruled by the health department and must not keep a child in care that exhibits any contagious symptoms like fever over 100, vomiting, diarrhea or unknown rash. Added to that the child must be kept home until they have been symptom free for 24 hours and so many parents try to blow that part off. Well, they say, they haven't had fever since last night. Of course not because you kept them drugged up with meds and today when the fever wears off it will be right back.
Well, in fairness to the parents, some employers are pretty bad about people calling in sick, nursing being one of the worst! When I worked in a hospital, we didn't even get sick time for kids illnesses. This is a profession that is 90+% female, with most of them married with kids.
I never said most parents did that, just that some do. It only takes one sick kid to spread something through a day care.
You didn't say that; Golfgirl did. Anyhow, agreed again. I've been watching how these illnesses pass around like wildfire. There's nothing that can be done and IME a kid is not allowed to be in daycare with a temp. If they are found to have one they can not return until there is no temp for 24 hours, which would put them out for the following day as well at the very least. That's why the assertion does not make sense to me as a rule for working parents. Although, I don't know what kind of experience golf girl has in this particular space to say one way or the other.
Ad yea, it's not easy at all when a person has the additional responsibilities of a job. It's such a tough balancing act.
Quote:
Well, then, that makes sense. In the US, we generally wear shoes in the house, school, etc.
The daycare centers I visited in MA do not allow shoes in the infant/baby rooms, which is good practice since these kids are on the floors. I've adopted the same since my daughter was born. The shoes have to come off, although I've thought about getting those hospital booties for guests.
The logic many of these parents give is that if the child care provider calls their work to come get their sick child the boss accepts it much better than if they call into work because their child is sick. The parent can say...."I don't have a choice. I HAVE to go get my child."
Or they felt they HAD to go in do so certain necessary tasks, attend a high profile meeting or some such significant deal.
Or since they have used up all their sick days for their own personal time off, they no longer have any paid time off.
Anyway....child care centers are also ruled by the health department and must not keep a child in care that exhibits any contagious symptoms like fever over 100, vomiting, diarrhea or unknown rash. Added to that the child must be kept home until they have been symptom free for 24 hours and so many parents try to blow that part off. Well, they say, they haven't had fever since last night. Of course not because you kept them drugged up with meds and today when the fever wears off it will be right back.
Yep. It happens. A lot.
I suppose industry and SES can come into play here. Perhaps it's a matter of most working parents under this or that umbrella.
I know that some parents can't afford to take a day off of work (I'm thinking mostly of single parents working in low wage jobs without benefits) I also know that some people have bosses who just are not understanding at all when it comes to time off. I can see why some working parents would drop a sick kid off at daycare and cross their fingers and hope that it works out. I feel lucky that I have been able to stay home but I can empathize with working parents who are trying to balance everything. It has to be stressful when the unexpected things pop up.
Yeah, and this is just another reason why you shouldn't have kids if you're going to sending them to daycare while you work all day long.
As my mom used to say, "Wait till you have kids of your own!" Things happen. I know people who have sworn they'd never work another day after they had their kids, and were back in the workplace ASAP. I've also seen it go the other way.
As my mom used to say, "Wait till you have kids of your own!" Things happen. I know people who have sworn they'd never work another day after they had their kids, and were back in the workplace ASAP. I've also seen it go the other way.
True, very true! It just doesn't make sense to me to have a significant portion of your paycheck go to someone else watching your kids.
That chart is way off (or maybe it's including rural areas in with medium and large cities). Here in Atlanta, decent infant care costs over $14k per year, a good one $15 to 16k, and an excellent one, $17+k. Even 14k is about double the cost of a year of public college tuition.
Well, then, that makes sense. In the US, we generally wear shoes in the house, school, etc.
Cultural differences I suppose. Its the opposite here, shoes off inside. Even at my workplace we change from outdoor to indoor shoes at the door. I really like that for daycare as the kids are often messing about on the floor so I wouldn't want them lying in dirt someone tracked in from outside (this is a dirty time of year before the roads get cleaned of gravel and last year's dead leaves)
Yeah, and this is just another reason why you shouldn't have kids if you're going to sending them to daycare while you work all day long.
financially, it makes a lot more sense for most people to keep working and utilize day care.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kibbiekat
From a purely financial perspective, which is what the topic of the thread is, a much larger sum of money is given up when a parent decides to stay home. MUCH larger in many cases. The parent of an infant recently told me full time infant care is about $1400/month. That is in a high COL area. That's $16,800/year. The cost goes down each year from there. If a person is making, say $45,000 and decides to quit so as not to "waste" money on day care, s/he is giving up an additional $28,200/year. As child care costs go down, the amount saved by staying home goes down, and the amount lost by having quit goes up.
$28,200 X 4 = $112,800. With the decrease in child care cost yearly, and possible increases in pay, $112,800 is the absolute minimum someone making $45,000 would give up to quit work for 4 years. That doesn't even take into consideration the money lost when mom goes back to work and has to start over again at the bottom. Had she stayed, maybe she'd be making $50-55K by that time, but instead she has to start over again at $40K. So, add in $10,000/year for, possibly the rest of her working years, because she may never ever catch up to the position and salary she would have had, had she continued to work. That $10,000 X 20 years = 200,000.
$112,800 + 200,000 = $312,800 lost if she stays home.
$180,000 total salary for 4 years without subtracting day care costs.
$67,000 "wasted" on day care if she chooses to work for those 4 years.
Of course there are many factors. A lot of people would have more than 1 child in those 4 years. A lot of people make more than $45,000. There is health insurance to think about. It is far from a one-size-fits-all situation. But I think this demonstrates, from a financial perspective, that in many cases, far more money would be thrown away by quitting, than by paying for 4 years of child care.
~~~
The fact that child care costs more than college is not surprising. I don't think the study took living expenses into consideration, though.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
financially, it makes a lot more sense for most people to keep working and utilize day care. 
