Question for those who say "no childcare cost for school-aged kids"

christinak22 · June 2013

Don't you still have to pay for after-care after school...or do you only work part-time? I'm always a little confused when people on here say they'll only have to pay for daycare for a few years, then the kids will be in school and they won't have to pay anymore. It seems to clash with all the comments about having long hours and commutes.

I'm just wondering how I'm going to do it and looking for help, not judging.

aglenn · June 2013

I agree; from what I hear from friends who have school aged kids the costs go down somewhat but it is not a dramatic difference. Not only are there after school care costs, but then all the extra activities and sports and supplies, etc. I pay $$ for day care, so I do expect our budget to feel some relief when that is done, but it's not going to be easy street or anything.

*sparky* · June 2013

The costs are much, much less, but yes there is still a cost. When DS was in DC we paid about $1,300/month. Now for after-school care I pay about $100/month but he only goes 2 days/week.

In the summer I pay anywhere between $200 - $350/week for camp as DC, so that is definitely not cheap, but we only end up sending him to camp for maybe 8 weeks out of the summer.

christinak22 · June 2013

I think I have a unique situation because I've never had to pay for childcare until preschool because of family and finagling. I have a feeling once we add a baby in the mix with two school-aged kids (my future plan), it's going to be harder to expect grandma to manage it all and costs will go up quite a bit. Boo.

DaisyJanie · June 2013

We'll probably need afterschool care, but that is about $150/month, from what I understand. Going from $700/month for daycare, it's going to make a big difference. Of course summers will be more expensive.

I am hoping I'll be able to change my schedule a bit so that I can get off around 4 on certain days for sports and that sort of thing, and my husband might be able to do the same on other days. I don't think we could swing a schedule where one of us is always home right after school, though, as much as I would like that.

Stella2008 · June 2013

I wonder about this too--I was thinking about it yesterday when I was answering the question about % of your salary that goes to DC/taxes. Once the kids get to school full time, sure, the costs will be much cheaper than what we pay now (over $45k per year down to right around $20k with tuition, aftercare, and summer nanny help) but they are still a big chunk of change.

MammaBear81 · June 2013

From what I've figured, yes daycare costs go down, but school is only open 180 days of the year. The cost savings from daycare go in to things like before and aftercare, school holiday care, summer camp, and if your child wants to do sports, that's an added expense as well.

I am fortunate that DH works nights so he can be home when the kids get home from school, and sleep during the school day. We will still have to so some sort of camp during the summer, but not having to pay for before./after care will be a huge savings.

honeybee111 · June 2013

We'll still have after care costs for DD, but it will be a fraction of what our nanny and preschool costs now. The program at her future elementary school is around $200/month, so even with extracurricular activities, I don't see how we would come even close to what we're currently paying for childcare/preschool.

kanga1622Wed220857 · June 2013

My DH works the school calendar and school hours so once the kids are in school, there is no daycare whatsoever. Unfortunately, he has a low paying position in order to have this fabulous schedule but it is very beneficial to our long term costs.

itsmevkb · June 2013

That's something you'll never hear me say, although people do say it to me. I'm quick to point out to them that well, I will still have private school tuition to pay along with after school care. Fortunately, our school starts early so we can drop the kids off and still get to work on time.

mommymegan831 · June 2013

I'm a teacher and I'm lucky enough to work at a school that ends earlier than most. I have to stay after for a meeting 3-4 times a month, so most days I'll be able to pick up my kids from school, the other day I'm thinking we'll be able to get a family member to do it. We will need some sort of before care, and since the YMCA or any daycare that I know of does not offer that we'll probably contact DD's old sitter or find another parent who could help us out. I don't expect to pay more than $50/week, a huge difference from the $360 a week I pay now.

FreshlyWashed · June 2013

Like I said in my intro, I am a teacher and so is my husband. We are lucky he teaches in the school district we live, so when the kids are in school we will be lucky enough to probably never need before or after school care (tons of family near by). I am looking forward to having that $800 a month in my pocket in a few years. In the summer it only costs about $30 for summer t-ball, free to join our swimming league, lots of parks, etc. We have major home repairs in the works

emberlee3 · June 2013

Oh, yes, I will definitely be paying for after-school care, hopefully not before-care, too, but we'll see.

KL777 · June 2013

DS is going to a private school but if he were to go to a public school, the before & after care is $300 a month.

I will not have to pay for before care at his private school because my job is close enough to his school, but of course, I have to pay tuition and his extra-curricular activities (Spanish and swim).

skyejo · June 2013

My costs will go from $239/week to $40/week once my kiddos are in school. We'll be able to get them on the bus so the $40 is for aftercare at the school. We will still need to pay for some type of care/camp during school vacations and summers but it will still be significantly cheaper than full time at a center.

I don't factor in the extra cost as they get older for extracurricular activities as a replacement for DC costs. That's not a working mom expense. Even if I didn't work I'd still have to pay for sports and things.

BeachBum73 · June 2013

There isn't a consistent cost when they're in school. There's the $200 for registration, there's money for sports, music, etc. and then if you need before and after care and cost of care for breaks - spring break, Christmas and summer. I'm lucky enough to WFH so I don't have those before/after care and break costs.

ETA: I do pay for summer camp but she doesn't go every week. That's $133/week. Summer can be tough.

cchill01 · June 2013

There will definitely be costs, but it won't be $270/week. Before and after care in our district is $2.25/hour, so that works out to maybe $60-70/week. Summer camp will be as expensive as daycare, but that's only 8 weeks. Overall, costs will be reduced significantly. And at the same time, DD#2 will be moving up rooms at daycare and her weekly cost will drop.

Clynnpollock · June 2013

I recently did a little looking into what the costs might go down to when DS starts school - I like to be prepared for all things financial. Our costs will be approx 1/2-2/3 of what they are now. When the cost of daycare is nearly as much as our mortgage for just one child, and we're adding number 2 in next year, it will definitely help a LOT to have the costs go down even that much.

Iblamethebeer · June 2013

CTGirl30:

My hope is that once DD enters Kindegarten, I will be able to switch to working PT hours that will allow me to be home in the AM to see her off and then home in the afternoon to be available after school.

Right now, working FT it's obviously much easier having daycare fit my work schedule than have to fit my work schedule around a reduced school schedule and then dealing with summers off.

I have no idea what we are going to do about summers but we'll cross that bridge when we get there, like every other 2-parent working family.

But hopefully that will leave us with 3 months of childcare costs (day camps, etc) versus 12 months of childcare costs (M-F daycare while I work FT).

This is me, too. Right now I would still need to pay for full time care even if I took a job with shorter hours, so it makes sense to stay at my long hours/high pay job.

When shorter hours would translate into significantly lower childcare costs (something like my husband handling mornings, me finishing work in time to handle afternoons, grandparents helping with vacations/sick days, and just paying a high school student to supervise pool time in the summer ) then I hope to leap to a lower paying job and end up with a better net financial picture.

am1028 · June 2013

I'm a total lurker on this board, but had to respond to this, because DD is starting K in the fall and imagine my dismay when I did the math and realized it was actually going to cost me MORE for her care than daycare does now. The other parents from her class had a similar reaction to the same realization. Between paying for full day K, before and afterschool extension and something for her to do in the summer, it's going to be about $100 more a month. Granted that's just for the first year, since after that no more paying for full day, but still sad. I am hoping to get a PT job so I can put her on the bus in the mornings and pick her up in the afternoons. And also so I can take her to after school activities. That would save a lot of money, especially because I could then only send DS to daycare PT as well. However, decently paying PT jobs in my field are few and far between. Everything I've seen so far would require an additional pay cut over and above cutting just the % of time I would be cutting.

Mjmksb04 · June 2013

Afterschool latchkey in our school district is something like $5 a day, so I basically consider that to be free

And then we obviously will have to pay for summer camp, but that is no big deal.

ridesbuttons · June 2013

My childcare costs peaked when DS1 was about 23 months and DS2 was 5 months and they were both in full time daycare. As they aged, the costs dropped. In September, DS1 will be in grade 1 full time and DS2 will be in JK part time (every other day). We will still need full care over the summer.

I think my childcare costs will bottom out when that happens. Because the bus ride is so long, we don't need before or after school care (bus picks them up at 7:50am and drops them off at 4:15pm); DS2 will need daycare 2.5 days per week and they will both need full time care-type activities all summer long.

There will always be child expenses, camp, activities, trips, what have you. People might not call it 'childcare costs' but it is.

kcox123 · June 2013

Yeah - we pay $35 per week per child for after school care for our school-age children. Not as bad as daycare but still adds up.

CarolynTheRed · June 2013

(I mostly lurk - I'm still on parental leave)

Most of my coworkers tend to stagger their start/end times with their spouse, if there's one. So, one parent works 10-6, one works 7-3. It minimizes any child care time. Or, one parent works at home and might do their last couple hours of work after bedtime.

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