Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:is this just a dc/nyc thing? i live in dc, no kids yet, and this makes me think i cannot afford a child. i would be writing my paycheck to daycare.
Right..are many people basically just breaking even here?
Friends have told me that they spent a few years not even breaking even, but losing money. But, you need to think of it as a long-term investment in your careers. You are continuing to build your experience, gaining more tenure, retirement contributions (if your employer provides them), etc. Sure, one parent could stop working but there are long-term costs to that and you have to consider if you are in a field where it is relatively easy or difficult to get back in. I did SAHM w/ a PT job for 7 yrs. I was lucky that I found it easy to return to a FT job at a similar salary level when I returned to work but I get a lot less leave than employees who've been at the same company a long time and we were only contributing a small amount to my IRA while I was at home.