I guess im looking to be mythbusted here, but im really struggling understanding daycare costs in the US, i see videos and people being unhappy with the cost but i just want to understand because i cant shake the feeling like it’s overexaggerated how expensive it is
If the median income is around 4k usd a month, after taxes it’s .. 3.2k?
Then daycare is between 1-2k/month PER child?!
That’s at best 1/3rd of the salary and sometimes More than half assuming one child? I know there’s usually two in a household but surely your rent isnt that cheape or groceries, is it subsidized in a way a person like me from Sweden doesnt understand?
It just doesnt make sense at all
Comments
Yes, with a grain of salt.
While it’s expensive, tax breaks and financial aid removes most of the strain for people. The rich don’t care, its the slightly upper middle class to lower upper class that take a beating.
You’ll see a lot of people chime in that they spend a lot. They won’t mention tax breaks, rebates, aid, or their income. the usa is based around the idea that if you can afford it without aid, you should.
I live in the metro Atlanta Georgia area. I sent my 9 week old soon to a good daycare, not overly fancy, but good, clean, safe. It was $475 a week, and I had to provide everything for him. As he got older, and graduated from their pre-kindergarten program, it had only dropped to $425 a week. I had to pay each week whether he attended or not. I averaged about $23,000 a year for daycare.
Yeah, those numbers look about right.
I’m in California and that’s about right for a baby 2 years and younger. One parent goes to work to basically pay for daycare.
No it doesn’t make sense. And yes it is that expensive. I didn’t work when my kids were little, because all of my earnings would go to daycare costs.
My kid quit her corporate law job because daycare was too expensive and hard to find.
We pay $980/month for our 3 year old to go 4 days a week from 7:30 to 3:30. They charge more for younger kids, 5 days a week, and after care if you can’t get to pickup by 3:30. Meals are not included.
26 years ago my husband and I were making $50k /year (combined) and preschool cost $7k/year!
It’s basically $18-$20 per hour per kid. It’s easily $2k – $3k per month. For us, my wife didn’t go back to work after you youngest kid because she would be working just to pay daycare.