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I never said I would expect to be paid because my wife is a stay at home mom. I just object to my tax money helping to fund others' daycare expenses. Just like it is our choice to make the material sacrifices so that our children can actually be rasied by their parents, it is the working parents' choice to put their babies and young kids in daycare centers for 9 or more hours a day so they can acquire more material possessions. Unless someone is a single parent, daycare is not a necessity. I work with plenty of people, in a "white collar" job where both spouses work, and they live in McMansions in new developments, drive expensive SUVs, and take expensive vacations every year....and put babies as young as 6 weeks into a daycare center.
Wow. What a narrow minded view of the world you have. If only it were so simple for everyone, that the second income was just to pay for a McMansion, expensive cars, and material possessions.
Many American families are dual income and also make lots of material sacrifices. One income is not always enough to live on, even if you cut cable, internet, cell phones, clip coupons, shop sales, drive older cars and don't take vacations.
A second income is not always so the family is able to blow money. That's just ignorant.
Wow. What a narrow minded view of the world you have. If only it were so simple for everyone, that the second income was just to pay for a McMansion, expensive cars, and material possessions.
Many American families are dual income and also make lots of material sacrifices. One income is not always enough to live on, even if you cut cable, internet, cell phones, clip coupons, shop sales, drive older cars and don't take vacations.
A second income is not always so the family is able to blow money. That's just ignorant.
BUT....if the parents are making low wages probably 80% or more of one of the parents' salary is dumped into daycare expenses anyway. Why not just keep the kid out of daycare and have one parent work a part time job nights or weekends? They'd probably either bring in the same or more money than if the parent worked full time and put the kids in daycare.
Those who think that most two-income families are just in it to live a life of luxury should read the book "The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers are Going Broke."
I'm lucky that I am able to stay home, but I can certainly realize why not every woman (or man) is willing or able to do so. That doesn't mean that they should never have kids.
You got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
My point is that some people think they should be benefitted right out of their responsibility of raising their own kids.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorthy
Then working parents should not get a tax credit for child care either since the child is their responsibility and they do not need the government's help in raising that child. It is their responsibility.
BTW, Just because staying home full time to raise a child does not come with a salary or benefits, it's still WORK.
as has already been pointed out, everyone "raises" their kids, whether they go to day care or not, or public school or home school.
And, no, I didn't get up on the wrong side of the bed. I've spent too much time in the Politics forum listening to people whine about taxes. Now, the "same" people it seems to me, who hate taxes, think they should get a tax break for staying home with their kids. sounds like the dreaded "socialism"
On the part-time job thing: have you tried looking for part-time work? It is VERY difficult for most people to find. Sales jobs often offer PT work, but those sorts of schedules typically require a lot of flexibility AND don't pay well.
There's a huge demand for decent part-time work. It's definitely an option that should be encouraged, along with things like job-sharing; I think for many women having a decent part-time job would be the ideal scenario. It's often easier said than done, though.
Healthcare is another big aspect here. Most part-time jobs don't come with health care, and most employers won't cover costs of the entire family. Given the necessity of health insurance today (it's certainly nothing I would want my child to go without), coupled with the often high premiums, I can see why many parents end up working a FT schedule to cover their health insurance.
Healthcare is a big issue in the decision. When my kids were little (and even yet today) my husband did make enough salary for us to stay home. However, he works for a small company and healthcare premiums were through the roof -for not very good health insurance. I, on the other hand, made less (not enough for him to stay home) but worked for a large company which was able to offer good health care. Going without decent healthcare was not an option we believed to be dispensable. So we both work. And strangly enough, WE HAVE RAISED great kids.
BUT....if the parents are making low wages probably 80% or more of one of the parents' salary is dumped into daycare expenses anyway. Why not just keep the kid out of daycare and have one parent work a part time job nights or weekends? They'd probably either bring in the same or more money than if the parent worked full time and put the kids in daycare.
That might work for lower income parents, sure. But more middle income people may not be able to do something like that. If both parents make a relatively equal salary, the negative effects of losing one would far outweigh the costs of daycare.
Say both parents make around 40K. 80K is a decent combined salary and they are probably doing all right, even with daycare costs, but surely are not able to take expensive vacations, buy fancy new cars or an expensive McMansion. If one spouse were to quit, they would then have to live on just 40K, which in many areas of the country would require quite a bit more than just coupon clipping to live on. Sure, the at home parent could consider a weekend or weeknight job, but that isn't always realistic. What if the working spouse has unpredictable hours?
Just some thoughts. Having one spouse quit work entirely is just not always an easy solution for many families.
as has already been pointed out, everyone "raises" their kids, whether they go to day care or not, or public school or home school.
And, no, I didn't get up on the wrong side of the bed. I've spent too much time in the Politics forum listening to people whine about taxes. Now, the "same" people it seems to me, who hate taxes, think they should get a tax break for staying home with their kids. sounds like the dreaded "socialism"
If I understand it correctly -
I think what troubles people about this plan is that this tax credit would help dual income families making under 85K by reducing the expense of childcare for those families. Those families will pay less out of pocket (I think it's up to 12K less) for daycare and this will give them some more spending money. Sounds good.
But -
In the meantime, the dual income family making 86K+ a year gets no childcare tax credit and will probably see their taxes raised to pay for this credit, giving them less spending money in the process. Not good.
If the goal is to help out families with kids, why not just increase the child tax break for all families - SAHPs included?
Actually, it looks like the tax credit is doubled for incomes less than 85K, but there will also be some help for families making up to 115K. I wonder if it'll be a phase out thing?
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