How much do you pay for childcare? - Page 3

[mirlee]

We currently pay $56 a week for after school care which covers our son from the time he steps of his school bus until 6 pm. This fee also includes a snack. He is never there later than 4:45 and he gets there about 3:30. But it is nice to know he can be there longer in case of an emergency or one of us is later than 4:45.

The most we have ever paid for him was when he was an infant and the rate was $525/mo (six or so years ago). The least we ever paid was about $175/mo and that was a totally unfair amount IMO, but we also paid for his snacks. This amount covered us for about 1.5 hours per day. If he was going to be with this sitter for the whole day, we gave her $25 additional for each full day she had him. If she decided to take him out for lunch while running errands or whatever, then we reimbursed her. She was a dear friend and this was the only we we could think of helping her out of a financial disaster without her feeling we were giving her charity. She still watches our son once in a while and we pay her really well for that, about $10 an hour or so.

[terpstation]

265 a week for my 4 yo dd. Her program before this was 300 a week - that was an infant to toddler program.
Oh, snacks and lunch are included and this is at a center that is pretty highly regarded in this area.
I also have to add 11 a week for computers and 15 a week for dance, but those are her choice.

[Potty Diva]

ince I work at the cnter Kailey attends I don't pay anything now. Starting in january though, when I quit- WOOHOO! I'll be paying 55 a week. She'll be there from about 3:30 to whenever I can get there. The center closes at 5:30 and offers one snack (which is an all you can eat deal- we realize school aged children need more healthy snacks because of the brain and body power used during the day).

I'm hoping she doesn't have to be there much longer than 4:30. I'll have observation classes and may need to take a 2-4 pm class. In that event she'll be there until 5.

[shawni]

Thank you all so much for your responses. I guess like anything else, it really varies on the city/area. I'm still really torn about working or not, but thanks for the perspective.

[siobhang]

We also have an au pair and as pp said - $275 a week is about right.

Home based care is around $180 a week around here - the cheapest option after free care from family. Nanny shares are popular, esp for part time workers. Daycare runs $800 - $1000 monthly (and only a slight discount for the second child).

No wonder folks use unlicensed/casual child care.

I read somewhere that in general, the mom has to earn approximately $35K a year for working to even be affordable in most of the US. I know that when doing the calculations for my first, we realized that with a nanny and me working 60% time, I would be paying $5 a month to work. Not feasible.

[coobabysmom]

$300 a wk for a very AP enviroment that serves organic foods.. worth every penny but still we feel financially stretched. It's just under 50% of my take home pay. I carry the family insurance (no premiums), so that should be factored into the precentage some too...

[happyus3]

I live in Colorado. I am a DCP in my home for just one child. I am paid $200 a week for 10-12 hours a day. That includes breakfast lunch and sometimes dinner, snacks too. It also includes anything else we do, (unless really expensive) rec center, movies, bowling.. He is 3.5 now, when he was an infant I charged $150, but when use of the potty became an issue, he ate more real food, and we started going places, we discussed a higher rate. Most people in the area pay about this much per child, I know many at home providers that won't take less than $50 a day, but it depends on the situation and how many children they care for. I only choose to take on one child for extra fun money so that my kids and I can afford to do fun things during the week. It also gives my little guy a best friend.

Good luck!

[kathirynne]

I live in Montana. I pay $335 per month for half-day Kindercare. It includes breakfast, lunch, snack, and transport to school. (I am applying for a tuition scholarship, so I'm hoping I'll be paying less, soon.)

[doublesnap]

Originally Posted by Noah's mommy

I live outside of DC (far reaching Virginia suburb) and use home based care. I pay $375/week for my 2 kids ($175 for my toddler and $200 for my infant). I know that is a GREAT rate. The center I have them wait listed on wants $275/week for my infant and $200 for my toddler.

Hi Noah's mommy, I'm also outside DC but probably closer to DC than you are (I'm near the Pentagon)....I'm expecting my first in March and I'm just shocked by how much child care could be. Every day it seems I find out more about the true costs of child rearing but at the same time, I'm more than happy to spend it seeing as how I'm so excited about my baby.

How did you set about picking/screening your provider?

[becoming]

I am lucky enough to work in a church that has its own daycare, so I only pay $40 a week for fulltime daycare for my 10-month-old. I am so very blessed in that regard. I was paying $80 for three days a week before I got this job.

[boobybunny]

After school care for two school age children + transportation 858.00
Full day care for 22 month old "infant" 1000.00

going back to school .................................priceless

[liamsmommy221]

I pay $80 a week which is roughly 30% of my take home income. I give her 2 weeks paid vacation a year, plus all paid holidays. Sick days are not paid. I provide his diapies and wipes and Pediasure and she provides breakfast and lunch.
Average in this city is 80-135 a week.

[LongIsland]

I just went back to work 3 days a week (5 hours a day) and put DS#2 in a full day toddler program on those days.

The program is $675.00 a month and includes a hot lunch and a morning and afternoon snack and all drinks (they have a kitchen and the cook makes the food and makes/bakes the snacks). The place is pretty impressive - one toddler playground and a massive older child playground, two miniature baseball fields with dugouts, two inground pools (one toddler/one older child) for the summer, a garden, animals, bike areas . . . .

Transportation is included as well, but toddlers are not allowed to be transported on the minibus - only children age 3+ are allowed to bus. I wouldn't be putting him on the minibus anyway though.

On the bright side, when DS is no longer in diapers, the cost goes down to $650.00 per month.

[loraxc]

If DD enrolls in our chosen daycare, we will pay $160/week for 7:30-5:30. This is on the high end for our area. They provide snacks, but not meals.

[Ravin]

The cost for DD'd daycare is actually on the low-median end of cost, it's like $630/mo. I have a subsidy that covers 75% of the cost because I'm a student and qualify for PELL grants, so it's only $165/mo.

Hopefully after I graduate it'll cost nothing, because I'm moving back to TX where my mom will watch her for free.

[ashleyhaugh]

wow, thats really expensive!!
i work at a center on an army post in germany, and we have a sliding scale based on total income (privates make a whole lot less than officers, lol) that goes from about 190/month to about 550/month. hourly care went up from 2.50/hr to $4/hr last year

eta: thats full day care, and the center is open from 6-6. breakfast, lunch, and 2 snacks are included

[proudmamanow]

We are paying $50/day for dd in a private home daycare with one or two other toddlers. All snacks and lunch are included. This is on the high end of standard for private care around here which ranges from $40-$50 day. So $800 a month. Not cheap at all, but dcp is fantastic: AP, CD friendly, mellow, gentle, peaceful and provides organic food. Dd adores her and her son. So I'd probably pay more if we had to. My salary comfortably covers well more than that, and with dw's occasional income as a supply teacher it works well.

[Cela]

I pay $300 a week for a lady to take care of our dd. The lady also cleans the house and does the laundry. It is a deal for th Miami area.

[leafwood]

We are in NY. I am on internship and earn about $325 a week. That said, dd's daycare cost is $300 a week....so, basically my entire check goes to her care. I looked at all of our daycare options, and the cost is worth it to use becuase the center is amazing. We are struggling financially, but it is time limited and we are making sacrifices to make it work.

[Jillson66]

Originally Posted by shawni

Thank you all so much for your responses. I guess like anything else, it really varies on the city/area. I'm still really torn about working or not, but thanks for the perspective.

Be sure when you're "running the numbers" that you don't discount things like Social Security credits, advancement, staying current in your field/at your job, the connections you're making/keeping in the workplace, and so on. Early on, daycare may take a huge chunk of your paycheck, but IME you're still getting a significant income boost if you consider the long term, because your daycare expenses will go down each year (typically) while your income will go up (typically). So if you dont' work at all now, in five years or whenever you do go back to work, you'll be starting at a salary a good bit lower than you would be getting if you'd been working those five years. It's kind of like compound interest-- each time you get a 5% raise (equivalent to "interest" in the compound interest example), the higher your salary (equivalent to your principal in the compound interest example) the larger your raise. So financially it is almost always better to work those early years when daycare is taking a huge part of your check because that won't be the case forever.

Also, I think people tend to over-estimate a lot of the "cost of working." Unless you have to wear suits to work and would otherwise wear only sweats and t-shirts, there's not a huge difference between the cost of work wardrobe and a good casual wardrobe. Food costs don't have to go up a lot if you're committed to cooking rather than eating out and stuff like that. The commute costs money, but you're not taking daytime trips to the park or the library, either, so that offsets some of the commute costs. And so on. That's the way I see it, anyway.