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Childcare for two kids is now more expensive than rent in about 80 percent of the country, according to a new report.
The findings are based on data from 618 communities, urban and rural, released by the Economic Policy Institute, a worker advocacy organization (PDF). They assume a family of four: two parents, plus children ages 4 and 8.
I honestly don't understand how most people can afford to have children these days.
It certainly is not like it was in the 50's and 60's when most men (this was before women got equal pay for equal work) could support a wife and kids on just his salary -- and I think this is just one more way that life has gotten worse in the past 50 or so years and not better. Of course, if a mother wants to work and can afford childcare, that's different, but I am talking about how in most families today, the mother must work (too).
My sister pays as much for childcare for one infant as her mortgage payment. It would be more sensible for her husband to stay home with the baby, since he makes a lot less than she does, but she says the daycare pays more attention to the baby than he would. It's too bad we don't live in the same city, since I'm already home with my kids during the day, and one more (especially one adorable little guy) wouldn't be a problem.
My kids have never been to daycare...my husband and I worked opposite shifts after our oldest was born, and then I stopped working when we had our second child. Sometimes my husband worked two jobs, but he wanted to do that because he wanted me home with the kids. I learned to do everything I could to save money...work on the cars, cut hair, cook well enough that we don't eat at restaurants much, fix things around the house, and I looked for jobs for my husband online for years, until we found one that paid well enough that he didn't need two jobs. I was surprised that it was so important to my husband for me to be home, especially once the kids were in school and we could have had very affordable after-school care for them, but he said he spent most of his childhood at daycare (or at his grandma's house in the summers) and he likes knowing that I'm home with them.
I read that article this morning. It is expensive to have 2 or 3 children now. Rent or mortgage payment, car payment, utilities bills, and grocery foods to feed them. It is a good idea for one parent to stay home with the baby or child if they work different shift.
Childcare for two kids is now more expensive than rent in about 80 percent of the country, according to a new report.
The findings are based on data from 618 communities, urban and rural, released by the Economic Policy Institute, a worker advocacy organization (PDF). They assume a family of four: two parents, plus children ages 4 and 8.
This is not news! This is been going on for decades! Back in 2005 when we first started looking at Daycares we were sticker chocked and I ended up staying home because of it! (& we had 1 kid back then!)
We have a 3 month old and pay $300 per week or $60 per day. It's crazy.
When my grandson was a small baby his parents paid $15 an hour for child care to a wonderful woman. This was pretty standard or even slightly lower for infant care in their area. The child care provider only had a high school diploma (or similar, from a different country) and did not speak English. Ironically, our son, with a PhD, also made $15 an hour. Hmmm, I guess that good child care providers are harder to find than good micro-biologists/scientists.
The only way that my son & DIL managed was by working sort of a split shift each week so that they only needed child care three days a week, at (I believe) $400 a week, and used money that they had saved in advance. Now that their son is older, child care is still expensive but not quite as bad.
People really need to plan ahead for child care expenses and not just assume that they can afford it when the baby comes.
Last edited by germaine2626; 10-13-2015 at 11:54 AM..
When my grandson was a small baby his parents paid $15 an hour for child care to a wonderful woman. This was pretty standard or even slightly lower for infant care in their area. The child care provider only had a high school diploma (or similar, from a different country) and did not speak English. Ironically, our son, with a PhD, also made $15 an hour. Hmmm, I guess that good child care providers are harder to find than good micro-biologists/scientists.
The only way that my son & DIL managed was by working sort of a split shift each week so that they only needed child care three days a week, at (I believe) $400 a week, and used money that they had saved in advance. Now that their son is older, child care is still expensive but not quite as bad.
People really need to plan ahead for child care expenses and not just assume that they can afford it when the baby comes.
Private care is definitely more expensive than a daycare. I quit my retail job when our daughter was born because my hours were too unpredictable, and I made less than a babysitter.
Now, we're crunching numbers to decide if we can afford another one. I'm estimating we need 800/month for childcare for an infant. Ouch.
I don't know how this is just news. When my kids were born friends that had two or more were paying thousands a month for childcare, and this is fifteen years ago!
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