Childcare Costs More Than My Mortgage

[Anonymous]

This is was the case for us for 10 months. What you do is find an exit path. We enrolled our older child in a church based full-day preschool. Once he got a spot, we moved our younger child to an in-home daycare near the preschool.

Because it was the 2nd child that make daycare exceed our mortgage and put us in a negative cash flow for 10 months (we did not change our retirement contributions), we saw it coming and saved in advance. We knew it was for a limited time but that preschools enrolled for the August/September start of the school year, but that we’d have an enrollment decision in March. If we didn’t get a spot, we had 5 months to find an alternative plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our full Spanish immersion in Rockville is 4k for a 3 year old and infant from 8-6. The in home we used to use would have been about $3300 and included all meals for the toddler. You have to shop around and make compromises.

This makes me chuckle. I’m an EL teacher and my entire job is to provide remediation to students who spent ages 0-5 speaking a different language than English.

[Anonymous]

This is why some of us opt to live near the grandparents who work for free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is it that childcare costs more than my mortgage? I live in Bethesda and have an infant and toddler. 9-6 care at a local daycare center is 5k/month for both! What do people do? Quit working and parent FT? Stop saving for retirement? Raid their savings? Move to a LCOL?

I quit working (was a teacher) when I was paying more for childcare than I was earning working.

I don’t regret that at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is it that childcare costs more than my mortgage? I live in Bethesda and have an infant and toddler. 9-6 care at a local daycare center is 5k/month for both! What do people do? Quit working and parent FT? Stop saving for retirement? Raid their savings? Move to a LCOL?

Just wait until they go to college!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it that childcare costs more than my mortgage? I live in Bethesda and have an infant and toddler. 9-6 care at a local daycare center is 5k/month for both! What do people do? Quit working and parent FT? Stop saving for retirement? Raid their savings? Move to a LCOL?

Just wait until they go to college!

4 months of 5k would pay for an entire year at the college DD attends and it is a great school. Speak for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our full Spanish immersion in Rockville is 4k for a 3 year old and infant from 8-6. The in home we used to use would have been about $3300 and included all meals for the toddler. You have to shop around and make compromises.

This makes me chuckle. I’m an EL teacher and my entire job is to provide remediation to students who spent ages 0-5 speaking a different language than English.

What kind of teacher doesn’t know what a bilingual child is? You sound like an idiot.

[Anonymous]

We have lower housing costs. I had a lower paying job so I stayed home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it that childcare costs more than my mortgage? I live in Bethesda and have an infant and toddler. 9-6 care at a local daycare center is 5k/month for both! What do people do? Quit working and parent FT? Stop saving for retirement? Raid their savings? Move to a LCOL?

What do you think the cost of childcare for 2 children for 9 hours a day / 5 days a week should be?

Seriously. This is 3/4 or more of your children’s waking hours. It’s the majority of the experiences they have in their whole lives. Of course it should cost more than your mortgage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it that childcare costs more than my mortgage? I live in Bethesda and have an infant and toddler. 9-6 care at a local daycare center is 5k/month for both! What do people do? Quit working and parent FT? Stop saving for retirement? Raid their savings? Move to a LCOL?

What do you think the cost of childcare for 2 children for 9 hours a day / 5 days a week should be?

Seriously. This is 3/4 or more of your children’s waking hours. It’s the majority of the experiences they have in their whole lives. Of course it should cost more than your mortgage.

Taxes pay for public schools. Why not public daycare?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our full Spanish immersion in Rockville is 4k for a 3 year old and infant from 8-6. The in home we used to use would have been about $3300 and included all meals for the toddler. You have to shop around and make compromises.

This makes me chuckle. I’m an EL teacher and my entire job is to provide remediation to students who spent ages 0-5 speaking a different language than English.

I’m the PP you responded to and am also an EL teacher!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it that childcare costs more than my mortgage? I live in Bethesda and have an infant and toddler. 9-6 care at a local daycare center is 5k/month for both! What do people do? Quit working and parent FT? Stop saving for retirement? Raid their savings? Move to a LCOL?

What do you think the cost of childcare for 2 children for 9 hours a day / 5 days a week should be?

Seriously. This is 3/4 or more of your children’s waking hours. It’s the majority of the experiences they have in their whole lives. Of course it should cost more than your mortgage.

Taxes pay for public schools. Why not public daycare?

What would be the income limit? Would all parents have to send their kids to this daycare?
All the extra money parents would "save" would just make the price of everything go up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it that childcare costs more than my mortgage? I live in Bethesda and have an infant and toddler. 9-6 care at a local daycare center is 5k/month for both! What do people do? Quit working and parent FT? Stop saving for retirement? Raid their savings? Move to a LCOL?

I quit working (was a teacher) when I was paying more for childcare than I was earning working.

I don’t regret that at all.

Me too. Took a six year sabbatical to stay home with kids. The economics made sense and those six years were some of the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it that childcare costs more than my mortgage? I live in Bethesda and have an infant and toddler. 9-6 care at a local daycare center is 5k/month for both! What do people do? Quit working and parent FT? Stop saving for retirement? Raid their savings? Move to a LCOL?

What do you think the cost of childcare for 2 children for 9 hours a day / 5 days a week should be?

Seriously. This is 3/4 or more of your children’s waking hours. It’s the majority of the experiences they have in their whole lives. Of course it should cost more than your mortgage.

Taxes pay for public schools. Why not public daycare?

Probably because that would encourage more people to have as many children as they want despite not being able to afford them. Does that really seem like a good idea?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it that childcare costs more than my mortgage? I live in Bethesda and have an infant and toddler. 9-6 care at a local daycare center is 5k/month for both! What do people do? Quit working and parent FT? Stop saving for retirement? Raid their savings? Move to a LCOL?

What do you think the cost of childcare for 2 children for 9 hours a day / 5 days a week should be?

Seriously. This is 3/4 or more of your children’s waking hours. It’s the majority of the experiences they have in their whole lives. Of course it should cost more than your mortgage.

Taxes pay for public schools. Why not public daycare?

There are vouchers for low income.