daycare more expensive than college

ASasquatch · April 2014

A more depressing than particularly informative article/map. I already knew I would be paying an arm and a leg but seeing MA at the angry red end of the spectrum just made it worse.

https://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/04/daycare-more-expensive-college-map

pineconey · April 2014

What's really unfortunate is that most people who qualify for state assistance to pay for child care only have help for a limited amount of time (90 days in my state I believe) and if they can't find a job in that time, they lose care. We had to turn families away once the state dropped their payment and some of them were most definitely seeking employment.

pineconey · April 2014

Oh AND the state won't match the actual cost of care. Ex: we charged $30/day for day camp programs and the state would pay $22. This made it so we could only afford to allow so many state paid kids into our programs because the cash pay families had to subsidize the extra expense.

pineconey · April 2014

Part of the extra expense is that the states are requiring more from child care centers and smaller in home centers can't keep up and close down. Fewer options= longer waiting lists and higher prices.
And although some of the things they are now requiring are great for the kids, some are just asinine.

Serenla · April 2014

I'd believe it, I was looking at places that were charging 1200$ for part time.

ASasquatch · April 2014

@pineconey that is horrible. I can't even imagine having to be the one to tell the struggling mom that she is SOL.

We were lucky enough to find a great in-home center that has no idea how significantly little she charges compared to everywhere else and it's still more than we can comfortably afford. It stinks that her location is only convenient if DH stays at his current job and he's trying to find something that pays better. However, that would just leave us with the catch that any raise in pay would probably only be equal to or less than the rise in childcare costs of having to move to a different daycare so it might not even be worth it.

nycgirlkat · April 2014

I'm in Long Island, NY and the least expensive day care I found (that I trusted) is $1200 a month full time. I gave them a huge deposit to hold the spot (because they only care for 2 infants at a time), but I have no clue how we will afford it going forward. Even our monthly budgeted overage covers just half.

I've been begging my mortgage company since February to award us a loan modification, but have been denied twice because we "make too much money and aren't in (what they deem applicable) financial hardship". So they keep telling us to sell our house or go into default so I can get foreclosed on. This is what I get for being proactive about the fact that eventually my mortgage company will not even get paid half of what I owe them each month.

My monthly mortgage payment amount is obscene!!! And I'm sure college is going to be just as offensive up here!!

BeckyF82 · April 2014

The costs are crazy. In Surrey in the UK there is no childcare that costs less than £1300 a month for full time 8.30 till 5. And the problem is that as a teacher I have to be in work for 8 at the latest and dont get back till 6 so would have to pay an extra £250 on top of that for the extra childcare hours in the morning and afternoon. £1550 is £200 a month more than my DH earns! It makes more sense for my husband to give up work to look after the baby and live off state handouts which is crazy considering he has 16 years experience in accounting and tax.

*sparky* · April 2014

ColleenSwerb said:
Seriously. It's absurd. We're in MD and once I got KU with #2 me going back to work soon wasn't even a possibility.

Also in MD and was not shocked at all to see we are one of the states in the red. I could not believe the prices when we started shopping around for DC.

babym6705 · April 2014

This. I'm in MD and am pregnant with baby 2. I won't be returning to work after the birth due to the cost of daycare. It's just not worth it. I'm a teacher btw.

Jessimax · April 2014

When will they learn that these outrageous child care costs keep woman at home and that equals less tax dollars. So very thankful for our 7$ a day daycare (actually going up to 8$ in September) I wouldn't be able to afford to work with 2000$ a month care, crazy.

pineconey · April 2014

Yeah I worked in child care and the irony is that I wouldn't be able to afford child care if I went back to work.

Eta: I worked as a DIRECTOR. Not even a teacher, and I still didn't make enough to make it worth it.

ricekez · April 2014

I'm in WI, which is light red on the map. Child are isn't too bad here, around $200/wk for an infant. Finding an infant spot is nearly impossible at a center because the codes are so strict for children under 1 and most of the old buildings around here don't meet those codes. Fortunately, the same codes don't apply to in-home daycares, so our nanny has been able to open her own in-home daycare. And when DS starts preschool in 2015, our costs will go way down.

I'm an engineer, and so is DH. We make pretty good salaries and can afford daycare easily. But we're pretty darned high-income, so we're unique. I have many friends in less lucrative fields who have chosen to stay home because daycare is far too expensive to justify working.

littlesocks · April 2014

@ASasquatch‌ I'm in MA too. I contacted one of the big daycares in the area and they told me it would cost $2400 for 4 weeks (8:30-5:30, 5 days a week).
With that amount I'm going to go the nanny route. I work from home (but can't watch my LO while working) so it'll be more convenient to have someone come to my house to watch my LO.
It's scary how expensive child care is.

olenkapdx · April 2014

I think I live in the most expensive daycare state, Oregon, which also has really depressed wages. (It's a win-win!) I am putting my baby in care for only 2 days a week, and even at that, I'm kind of boggled as to how we're going to pay for it.

Elf2718 · April 2014

I haven't researched care, but my SO has a DD and it was costly 5 yrs ago. I have talked to my Mom and she has agreed to watch my LO for $100/WK. Super cheap and he will be with family.

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