We waited until we were in our 30s to start our family… It is not an exaggeration to say the decision was based on the cost of child care. She is our only child and unless something changes in the cost of child care, she will remain our only child. We pay more for child care than we do our mortgage and there is no way we can double that and still afford to live.
It defies common sense that folks don’t have to public funding for their children’s education until they reach the age of four. The cost can be overwhelming and can drown a lot of young families at a time when they’re just becoming established.
We have one child. We paid $31,008 for child care… That’s with part time daycare in the summer. Our savings is now basically gone. We’ve had to cut back on everything… People are going to have fewer (or no) kids just because it’s unaffordable to have more. People are going to leave the workforce to survive.
We currently pay $2,450/month for childcare for two of our children. This is not even for full time care. This is for half days! This leaves very little for us to be able to pay our bills on time, and in the case of an emergency we would be strapped.