How much money did you lose each year by working during the preschool years?

[Anonymous]

Title says it all. How much money did you lose a year in order to work? I got a job at an odd time, and we’re on waiting lists for center-based care, but right now we need a nanny. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

None? We paid for daycare for 3 and 3.5 years for each child and I worked the whole time for much more money than what daycare cost. Maybe I don’t understand the question. I would have lost money staying home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:None? We paid for daycare for 3 and 3.5 years for each child and I worked the whole time for much more money than what daycare cost. Maybe I don’t understand the question. I would have lost money staying home.

I'm assuming OP is trying to figure out if she makes enough to justify the costs of childcare.

[Anonymous]

A lot, but I paid into social security, carried our healthcare insurance, built my career.

I make a lot of money now and that could never have happened had I left the workforce.

[Anonymous]

I took a very short maternity leave and have no break in my resumee. I make way more than most mothers in my field, partially due to that. The $20k per year daycare was peanuts compared to that. I have 1 child born in 2013.

[Anonymous]

We didn’t lose any money. We made sure we had a mechanism to pay for it before we had children. This was part of our dating discussions early on to make sure we were on the same page with dividing responsibilities in an equitable way.

[Anonymous]

I lost money for a couple years but really enjoyed working and I knew it wouldn't be for long. Then I made considerably more and came out way ahead. I'm glad I worked through the hard little kid years because it preserved my sanity. I SAH now that they're in ES and it's way more enjoyable.

That was my calculus anyways. The daycare years are expensive but they're not forever and I'm glad I kept working through them. Makes returning to work at some point easier, too.

[Anonymous]

A lot, but I paid into social security, carried our healthcare insurance, built my career.

I make a lot of money now and that could never have happened had I left the workforce.

In my case, it allowed me to get credit in a pension system that is based on number of years worked. I also moved up the pay ladder and I was able to retire at 61 because I did not stop working. I have female friends in the same system who will be working past 65 because they took years off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot, but I paid into social security, carried our healthcare insurance, built my career.

I make a lot of money now and that could never have happened had I left the workforce.

this is a good point. Rank improved. Salary went up. Promotion occurred. Position remained. All while working…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot, but I paid into social security, carried our healthcare insurance, built my career.

I make a lot of money now and that could never have happened had I left the workforce.

this is a good point. Rank improved. Salary went up. Promotion occurred. Position remained. All while working…

plus, 401 k accrued. Matching company investments occurred.

[Anonymous]

I chose to take about 18 months off from work, but had I stayed in my job, we would have spent an amount about equal to my take-home pay on childcare those first two years. Of course, I didn't think of that money as coming out my paycheck only -- it would be a joint expense between my DH and I. But this fact did factor into my decision to stay home because I really, really wanted to by home with my baby and the idea of going to my job every day so that I could earn just enough money to pay someone else to do the thing I wanted to be doing was very annoying to me. That bothered me way more than the money -- the fact that I wanted to be the one taking my baby to the park and story time an singing songs and playing together. It's hard to pay someone else to do something you really want to do yourself, so I didn't.

[Anonymous]

None. Full time preschool + aftercare was $12k. I made more than that.

[Anonymous]

Even if you pay $2500-$3000 per month, which is at the high end for one kid, most people in this area take home more than that much to allow one to not “lose money” while working during the daycare years. Now for two kids in daycare, that might be a different calculus for many. I spaced out my kids especially to avoid this, but I’m in DC so that was only 3 years.

[Anonymous]

None - I earn much more than we pay our nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I chose to take about 18 months off from work, but had I stayed in my job, we would have spent an amount about equal to my take-home pay on childcare those first two years. Of course, I didn't think of that money as coming out my paycheck only -- it would be a joint expense between my DH and I. But this fact did factor into my decision to stay home because I really, really wanted to by home with my baby and the idea of going to my job every day so that I could earn just enough money to pay someone else to do the thing I wanted to be doing was very annoying to me. That bothered me way more than the money -- the fact that I wanted to be the one taking my baby to the park and story time a singing songs and playing together. It's hard to pay someone else to do something you really want to do yourself, so I didn't.

I totally get that. I hate not being the one to take my kids everywhere. But I don’t want to quit and SAH completely. I wish there were more PT options in my industry (finance).