Daycare costs.

[CCdaCE]

Didn't know whether to file this under Money and Fire or Young Dreamers... but, here goes.

I'm wondering what the rest of the world pays for daycare? We pay $22/day/child. Get 10 days of vacation where we don't have to pay, and the daycare lady takes 2 weeks where we don't have to pay. After that's gone, whether your kid is there or not, you pay. Unless you have a child in school, then it's hourly in the summer or after school. We don't have that luxury yet. So, it averages $440/kid/month for us.

I actually think it's cheap since our daycare lady is great, and we pass the "brother-in-law" test, i.e. he pays over $600.

Ours is private, out of her home. Other churches/"official" daycare providers charge $450-$600+ in this area.

Again, all of these numbers are per child, per month. Please adjust accordingly.

In a couple years this is going to make a helluva extra truck payment/401k/whatever.

Thanks for your responses, in advance.

-CC

 

[laurence]

We were paying about the same. Now DW is mostly working from home, and on Tuesday's when she goes into the office, the younger's Godmother who lives 4 houses away watches them for $100, pricey but a win-win all the way around - Tori and Olivia play with their three best friends (her children) and she gets to continue to stay home as the money bridges the gap for that household.

 

[CybrMike]

I have a private nanny and pay $265 per week for 25 hours (~ 3 days). Don't judge me

 

[VaCollector]

My youngest daughter will be 16 this September and we have NEVER paid for child care....or a babysitter for her.....kinda odd, I know!.....but then we were blessed with "The Graminator".....actually, we all just call her "Grammy".....but as my MIL would have skinned us alive if she were not the caregiver of choice, we consider ourselves truly blessed

No spot in your poll for that, huh?

 

[Texarkandy]

I chose "$700 or More" since DW stayed home over 10 years when she could have made a fine $ income working

The reason people can't find quality daycare at a cheap price is because "quality" is expensive.

I've noticed some people are willing to pay more to board their dog than take care of their kid.

 

[ats5g]

$175/week for the 2 yr old [that's with partially subsidized child care at a "disclosed gov't facility"], and $125/week for summer camp for the 6yr old. During the school year its $305/month for before and after care at the school for the 6yr old. It's expensive, but the kids need the socializing very badly. If they weren't in daycare, we'd have killed them by now. They're lucky they're cute.

 

[TromboneAl]

Does college count?

 

[Achiever51]

Didn't respond to poll as my child is 26 y.o., but I thought you might find this recent Craigslist NY ad of interest...(and yes, it is a legitimate offer and the job's been filled):


Seeking a kind, smart, motivated person to help care for 4 children as a mother's helper (you won't ever be left in charge of all of them!) Monday-Friday 7:30AM-1PM in Manhattan with flexibility to go to the country every other weekend. Candidates must love working with children, have experience with babies and references and be able to commit for at least a year. PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND IF YOU DO NOT FIT THIS DESCRIPTION. $1,000 PER WEEK CASH
Please call 646.xxx.xxxx

 

[Charlotte]

I was sure happy when my "baby" entered kindergarten last year, we were paying $175/week for her in the 4/5's group at a 5-star daycare (this is the top end of how the state of NC rates & ranks daycares). At the same daycare, the rates go up as the ages go down, typically about $10 per age bracket, so the infants cost $225 per week. The most expensive year, with 2 children in daycare at the time, was about $16,500.

You do get what you pay for, though... this is one area where cheaper sure ain't better.

 

[brewer12345]

Didn't respond to poll as my child is 26 y.o., but I thought you might find this recent Craigslist NY ad of interest...(and yes, it is a legitimate offer and the job's been filled):


Seeking a kind, smart, motivated person to help care for 4 children as a mother's helper (you won't ever be left in charge of all of them!) Monday-Friday 7:30AM-1PM in Manhattan with flexibility to go to the country every other weekend. Candidates must love working with children, have experience with babies and references and be able to commit for at least a year. PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND IF YOU DO NOT FIT THIS DESCRIPTION. $1,000 PER WEEK CASH
Please call 646.xxx.xxxx

And they might go begging for a helper anyway, based on my experience.

 

[Calgary_Girl]

My mom (aka Grandma) watches Erin. She absolutely refuses to let us pay her but we give her cash for her birthday, Christmas, etc.

Every once in a while, I'll actually go to their bank and deposit some money into their chequing account. Dad always has a fun time when that happens...trying to figure out how money magically appears in the account

 

[PBAT]

I pay $610/month for a 3 day week, also at a 5 star center in NC, for my 3.5 year old. (The full time rate is $1020.)

They provide morning & afternon snack, and hot lunches. (In MD, we had to pack all food and drink)

 

[CCdaCE]

Thanks for all the replies.

My youngest daughter will be 16 this September and we have NEVER paid for child care....or a babysitter for her.....kinda odd, I know!.....but then we were blessed with "The Graminator".....actually, we all just call her "Grammy".....but as my MIL would have skinned us alive if she were not the caregiver of choice, we consider ourselves truly blessed

No spot in your poll for that, huh?

No, that's what my parents did with me, too. Unforunately, distance (a couple hours) separates us from doing that to our parents, or for or kids or however you want to look at it.

Achiever51: I know two people that used to be a live-in nanny. One was for an investment banker in NY somewhere. "Good" cash, not much life of your own. Plus food and housing is free, maybe transporation, too. Not for me, though.

I chose "$700 or More" since DW stayed home over 10 years when she could have made a fine $ income working

The reason people can't find quality daycare at a cheap price is because "quality" is expensive.

I've noticed some people are willing to pay more to board their dog than take care of their kid.

That's one of the biggest things keeping us here, our low cost (apparently) daycare, yet it's high quality. Good meals, learning activities, caring, etc.

-CC

 

[DallasFH]

At what age do you start leaving the kid at home by themselve?

 

[jIMOh]

$25/say per kid with SIL, paid as cash (cannot deduct from income taxes).

 

[Salaryman]

Our 8month old stays home/400 per week live in nanny, while the 3 year old attends a church based day care/400 month. The 6 year old is in public school. Works out to 500 week or 2000 month. This is normal/cheap in NY area.
Sometimes we dream about what our NYC salaries would do for us, say, in NC TX or other sanely priced places.

 

[FinanceDude]

At what age do you start leaving the kid at home by themselve?

In a number of states, it's 12 years old..............

 

[Urchina]

In our area it's about $400/week for full-time child care for one child. A quality helper/babysitter runs $10/hr on up. I define "quality" as reliable, cheerful, honest, first-aid/CPR-trained with good references and a modicum of common sense. We currently pay our babysitter (4 hrs/wk) $15/hour to watch two kids. They love her, we love her, it works out great.

The cost of childcare in this area is one factor that supported my desire to stay home -- but just wanting to be with my kids was the main one. (Though days like today, when they're both screaming for no apparent reason, makes me wonder if I made a rational choice).

 

[sailor]

In a number of states, it's 12 years old..............

I found a table, but some references are weak: Latchkey Kids Age Limits Listed By State
But this looks like another example of nanny state
When I was growing up (a moderately big city (~1M inhabitants) and my parents allowed me to stay home alone at 7 y.o., ride public transport by myself at 6 y.o. and ride long distance train to grandparents at 9 y.o.

 

[DallasFH]

We use network cameras around the house for a 10 years old this summer and bought her a cell phone. DW and I watch her while at work via the Internet. Yes we are worry that someone break into the house during the day when we are not there. But so far, it is been working out very well.

I found a table, but some references are weak: Latchkey Kids Age Limits Listed By State
But this looks like another example of nanny state
When I was growing up (a moderately big city (~1M inhabitants) and my parents allowed me to stay home alone at 7 y.o., ride public transport by myself at 6 y.o. and ride long distance train to grandparents at 9 y.o.

 

[aaronc879]

In our area it's about $400/week for full-time child care for one child. A quality helper/babysitter runs $10/hr on up. I define "quality" as reliable, cheerful, honest, first-aid/CPR-trained with good references and a modicum of common sense. We currently pay our babysitter (4 hrs/wk) $15/hour to watch two kids. They love her, we love her, it works out great.

The cost of childcare in this area is one factor that supported my desire to stay home -- but just wanting to be with my kids was the main one. (Though days like today, when they're both screaming for no apparent reason, makes me wonder if I made a rational choice).

$400/week? That settles it, i'm getting fixed. That's 3/4 of my takehome pay. That's insane.

 

[laurence]

That is high! I think we were paying that for two kids.

 

[CCdaCE]

OK, I'll stop complaining to the wife now.

-CC

 

[Urchina]

Doh! I should have written $1600/month for TWO kids, full-time, between the ages of 2&5. Infants and toddlers are more.

The babysitter/nanny hourly rate I posted is accurate, though.

aaronc879, hope you didn't have that surgery yet! Although I understand that little kids are cheap compared to teenagers. You might want to ask Nords or TromboneAl about that... too early in the game for me.

 

[Salaryman]

$400/week? That settles it, i'm getting fixed. That's 3/4 of my takehome pay. That's insane.

Unfortunately, it's a fact of life that good care cost money.

A recent article pegged a stay at home mom's 'pay' at 138k a year.

The price of a mom: $138,095 - MSN Money

By having nanny care, we are both able to work and function.
Also, by the time the kids enter elementary school (Kindergarden+) we won't need to have a full time nanny, so it really becomes a temporary phase.

Having kids is a lot of responsibility and certainly costly; that said, it's all worth it from my stand point.