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i think many couples actually do make the decision to stay at home instead of work. tahiti makes good points though. but for many, staying at home is a very logical financial decision. what do do when they no longer need you at home is the tough part! we'll probably both work, maybe one scale back to p/t for a while.
i think many couples actually do make the decision to stay at home instead of work. tahiti makes good points though. but for many, staying at home is a very logical financial decision. what do do when they no longer need you at home is the tough part! we'll probably both work, maybe one scale back to p/t for a while.
I would argue STRONGLY that if you had the luxury of choosing when to work, do it when the kids are young, especially since there is no empirical evidence that a good quality daycare combined with loving parents is a detriment. As the mom of near-teens, NOW is the time that you want to be available to them after school, to keep an eye on them and head off any trouble. You've heard the saying "little kids, little problems, big kids, big problems"? Well, it's true!
I would argue STRONGLY that if you had the luxury of choosing when to work, do it when the kids are young, especially since there is no empirical evidence that a good quality daycare combined with loving parents is a detriment. As the mom of near-teens, NOW is the time that you want to be available to them after school, to keep an eye on them and head off any trouble. You've heard the saying "little kids, little problems, big kids, big problems"? Well, it's true!
You sound like my wife! This was what she was hitting me with 3-4 years ago. And I am beginning to conclude she was right.
It was about 5 or 6 years ago, we paid around $2500 for 2 kids. It included extended hours from around 8:00 am to 6:30 pm, the center provided lunch, dinner and snacks. We always joked that it was like paying for a 3rd mortage. We are in Union County.
We know that we could get a nanny for less than that, but we opted not to have a nanny at the time.
I am paying $780 for my 3y while we are in Jersey City. Now we move to Berkeley Heights and we pay $1145 for PreK and my friend pay $1300 for PreK in Summit. I have no family nearby so that I have to use before and after care. The hours are 7 to 6 and not included meals. My coworker look shocked when she hears how much I am paying for the childcare.
Crazy to pay that much for day care. Do the math and multiply that by each kid and see what these people are making. They say teachers make too much? Babysitting at 300 a kid per week? Wow, talk about a gig.
Well, you have the option to baby-sit. When my kids were in school, I looked into the possibility of a home-based day care provider to pick them up from school and look after them during the breaks, the woman charged $8/hr per kid and she could take a maximum of 8 kids, we would be on the waiting list. It was around 4 years ago.
If you were to compare teachers with babysitting, I would compare public school with private school. Currently many private schools are charging around $30K. Is it crazy? may be, but why are parents sending kids to private schools?
1700 in Hoboken is average. I was paying 1500/month for a 12 mo. and that's on the low end.
There were parents paying anything from 1500 to 2100/mo.
It didn't make sense for me to work when paying that kinda money in childcare so I'm taking time off from working until I either get a higher paying job or until my son goes to school so I can return to work parttime. Having children in the US is not easy on a dual income family.
Having children in the US is not easy on a dual income family.
I would say having children in NJ/NY metro area is not easy on a dual income family. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law are both working and they even have 2 children. They live in Dallas, TX. They went to family childcare routine when their kids were infant. They only paid $35 a day. When kids turn 2, they send them to "expensive" Motessori preschool which ONLY costs them $900 per month including meals, and before/after care. In Jersey, the good Motessori needs waiting list for 2 years plus the tuition is more than 15000 a year and does not include after school.
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