How much do you pay for childcare? - Page 2

[dentmom3]

We pay $191 for DS (2 years old) and 151 for DD (PreK) and that is for only 3 days a week! So our total is 342 a week for M,T and W! Ouch! But we are pleased with the center and it is NAEYC accredited which I know takes a lot on the center's part to have that designation. When the new baby starts we will add another $191 a week to that. One bad year and then DD will be in K and only at the center 3 half days, DS will be in PreSchool and the cost goes down and then things will be a little less painful to the checkbook!

[BusyBeeMom]

We currently pay our babysitter about $13/hour. She babysits one day/week. My mother sits the other days, and we do not pay her.

We are getting an au pair shortly, though. When you figure it all fees, etc., we will be paying about $275/week, plus extra costs of food, electricity, car insurance etc. (This is cheap for my area)

We live just outside New York City. It's expensive here

[katallen]

DD is in a good daycare and they charge $29/day which averages out to about $560 or so every month but since I don't make a lot I get the state daycare subsidy so I pay only about 21% of the cost. With how much you said you make it may be worth looking into, many in-home and center daycares take it. There are some really nice childcare centers that take the subsidy that I would not have thought would also, I looked into one of our upscale very good $700+ a month places and even they take it so don't limit yourself to cheap places if you do decide to take it because you may be able to get much better.

[Zilla]

When my kid was in daycare, it was just over $1000 per month. This was the most expensive daycare anywhere around us, but I know it all varies by location. She's in school now and her after school care is $205 per month, but thats only a couple hours after school. Her after school is a program with the school district and the daycare before that was a private facility.

[kamilla626]

We pay $130/wk for an in-home dcp with 2 "staff" (husband and wife). That includes breakfast, lunch and snacks, and it's pretty average for in-home daycare in our area I think.

We have a "back up" dcp that we use if our regular dcp is on vaca or has some other issue, and she charges $135/wk or $25/day.

[Wolfcat]

I'm in NE and I pay an infant rate of $25/day or $125/week at a daycare center. The usual rate is about $150+ around here. That's out of $500/week salery.

Oh, and they are very accepting of bfing and willing to use cloth diapers.

[Caryliz]

Amazing to see how much this varies by area!

We are in NYC and pay our babysitter $500 a week; she works 8am - 5pm M-F and gets 5 paid sick days and 2 weeks of paid vacation. What we pay is actually on the low end of the scale for our neighborhood. Plus, many sitters in our neighborhood get an annual bonus equal to one week's pay. We can't afford to do this, but we do try and offer her as much flexibility and as many intangible benefits as possible to make the situation workable for her.

At the moment, the sitter's salary is 46% of my take-home pay, which is pretty significant for us as I am the major breadwinner and my salary has to cover all family bills/expenses except car and cellphone...

Next year when DS is 2 we will consider enrolling him in a local day care (not home-based); this will cost about $800 or $900 a month, obviously still not cheap but a significant cost savings for us!

[MacKinnon]

In my area, south central Michigan, the top NAEYC accredited centers run about $175 to $200 a week for full time or $50 to $75 per day, depending on the age of the child. Liscenced home centers run about $135 or so...

[woobysma]

I pay $800/mo for DS2 (he'll be 2 in a week) DS1 goes to my parents' before and after school for free

I just saw the other part of your question: daycare is about 30% of my take-home pay

[jstar]

$775 a month for my 2 year old. it includes all food and previously included cloth diaper service up until he entered the preschool 1 class. now they use sposies and pottylearn. i paid $780 when he was an infant there. my rate hasn't gone down because of the rate hikes over the last 2 years.

[Amydoula]

I'm in rural upstate NY. I pay $5 per hour cash for a 4 1/2 year old for babysitting and his preschool is $170 per month for 4 days a week/3 hours per day during the school year.

[sadie_sabot]

We pay $1100 for five days a week.

It's the low end for centers (as opposed to in home care) in this hellishly expensive city.

and it's about half of my take home pay. In terstingly, we pay the smae amount for rent ( two rooms in a six person household) which is cheap for the area; we would pay at least $2000 for a two bedroom place.

[wednesday]

I just realized I didn't answer the percentage part either. My son's preschool is about $600/month, which is about 25% of my take-home pay. It used to be closer to half of my pay, but I got a much better job a couple months ago.

[mummytastic]

We pay 150 per week for 30 hours. She's in the 1 - 2 year age group. this includes breakfast, lunch, snacks and drinks. It's flexible hours between 5:30am and 8pm and is linked to the Wake Med hospital here in Raleigh! Excellent value and wonderfull staff. It's about 15 - 20% of my monthly salary.

[PrettyBird]

$3.50/hr for PT care (up to 25hrs/week)

FT care runs between $270-$570/month depending on income.

This is on a military base though. DD hasn't had to go yet but this is what we would pay.

[twopointysticks]

we pay 100 a week for DS's full-time in home dcp which includes "breakfast" (morning snack), lunch, snacks, her gas to drive the kids around to the park pretty much everyday and any other random expenses. its a little less than average around here

[marvelous]

I pay $75 for a 4-day week, but two days are short days because I get off work early and pick her up by 2pm. This is for in-home day care with a wonderful mama who hasn't batted an eye to my cloth, frozen breast milk (when she was a babe) and now ECing/PLing. She also provides lunch, snacks and drinks. I think this is average to low for Central AR. I am getting a great deal so she is getting an awesome Christmas gift!

[MeganW]

we will be paying 100 a week in two weeks for 2yr old dd at a small center (my ex bf's mom owns) till her spot opens at a top of the line private school. Then it will go to 190. That is approx 15% of my income for the first and 30 for the second.

[Brianna's Mom]

I pay $40/day to my SIL who watches my 10 month old DD from 7:30 a.m. to anywhere between 2:30 and 4:00 p.m. (I'm a teacher; she's very flexible!). I didn't even research prices; she offered to do it for $25 and I told her that that wasn't enough and I wanted to give her at least $40, which is about 1/3 of my take home pay. DH made about $90K last year as a construction manager, but we still can't afford to live on one income in Calif. I'm very lucky to have my SIL who is a great mom and absolutely loves my DD.

[Yooper]

$6/hour for one 3 yo. It comes to about 1/8 of my take-home pay. I have to pay so much because she is only in for 10 hours a week and we have a sitter rather than a daycare center.