America’s child care problem is about to get a lot worse. (salaries, solution)
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We all know that living from one salary is not possible for a very long time now.
But it seems that instead to help working families, their struggle is going to be even worse. There are long waiting lists for day and kindergarten care, and the fees are going up and up. What options families with kids have?
How to keep our children safe and nurtured, and their parents working?
Nationwide, more than 70,000 child care programs are projected to close, and about 3.2 million children could lose their spots due to the end of the child care stabilization grant program on September 30, according to an analysis by The Century Foundation.
Child care in America has long had issues: The costs are steep for both providers and parents, leaving it both in short supply and unaffordable for many families. Last year, the average annual price nationwide was nearly $11,000, according to Child Care Aware of America, though the rates can be much higher depending on the location.
Less and less parents can afford that. Work two jobs, you could say - then when are they going to see their children? Do their parenting duties?
And working two jobs isn't even an answer. Nowadays everyone wish to work from home and demand high salaries (plus tips, if possible).
Desperate parents take any chance they get, and often end up placing their kids in unsafe environments, where kids get abused or even killed (the fentanyl case in Bronx)
Oh we are one paycheck house. I am the breadwinner while my wife is the Parent winner. We choose this path because she wanted too...ahmm and plus I did NOT like the idea of strangers watching my kids. They still grew up to be a royal pain but they are my royal pain. Its possible.
We all know that living from one salary is not possible for a very long time now.
But it seems that instead to help working families, their struggle is going to be even worse. There are long waiting lists for day and kindergarten care, and the fees are going up and up. What options families with kids have?
How to keep our children safe and nurtured, and their parents working?
Nationwide, more than 70,000 child care programs are projected to close, and about 3.2 million children could lose their spots due to the end of the child care stabilization grant program on September 30, according to an analysis by The Century Foundation.
Child care in America has long had issues: The costs are steep for both providers and parents, leaving it both in short supply and unaffordable for many families. Last year, the average annual price nationwide was nearly $11,000, according to Child Care Aware of America, though the rates can be much higher depending on the location.
Less and less parents can afford that. Work two jobs, you could say - then when are they going to see their children? Do their parenting duties?
And working two jobs isn't even an answer. Nowadays everyone wish to work from home and demand high salaries (plus tips, if possible).
Desperate parents take any chance they get, and often end up placing their kids in unsafe environments, where kids get abused or even killed (the fentanyl case in Bronx)
Yep. Hard to get spots at quality daycares and even harder to pay for them. My daughter and SIL live in a high COL place. 2 kids cost them right under the 2023 average US household annual income. Yes, they are fortunate they can afford it, but that money could be going into college or retirement savings. They’re giddy with the thought of their oldest going to kindergarten next year and being able to reduce their daycare cost significantly.
And people wonder why families are smaller these days!
I was a single parent with one child. Seldom got any assistance or support. Finding quality childcare and being able to afford it was horrific. I did not use day cares, always in-home care by moms with their own kids who took in a few others for extra money. Child day cares are filth pits.
Couples with children should be grateful they have one another to raise the children. Time to buck up and stop competing with that family named Jones. One primary breadwinner households can be achieved, with sacrifices.
Other cultures value their elders to help care for children. We seem to want to do it the hard way.
We all know that living from one salary is not possible for a very long time now.
But it seems that instead to help working families, their struggle is going to be even worse. There are long waiting lists for day and kindergarten care, and the fees are going up and up. What options families with kids have?
How to keep our children safe and nurtured, and their parents working?
Nationwide, more than 70,000 child care programs are projected to close, and about 3.2 million children could lose their spots due to the end of the child care stabilization grant program on September 30, according to an analysis by The Century Foundation.
Child care in America has long had issues: The costs are steep for both providers and parents, leaving it both in short supply and unaffordable for many families. Last year, the average annual price nationwide was nearly $11,000, according to Child Care Aware of America, though the rates can be much higher depending on the location.
Less and less parents can afford that. Work two jobs, you could say - then when are they going to see their children? Do their parenting duties?
And working two jobs isn't even an answer. Nowadays everyone wish to work from home and demand high salaries (plus tips, if possible).
Desperate parents take any chance they get, and often end up placing their kids in unsafe environments, where kids get abused or even killed (the fentanyl case in Bronx)
It IS possible to work and not require childcare in a two-parent household. My husband and I did it for years until 2012 when our son left home, and my daughter and her partner are doing it now. HOWEVER, they alternate shifts, and she and her partner rarely see each other, but that is a trade-off if you have kids in today's world and one partner does not have a high income. If one person is making even a moderate income, it is still possible if one is willing to make a lot of sacrifices (for example, no going out to eat, no cigarette or alcohol purchases, ONE very basic car with the working parent taking the bus or riding a bike, etc., etc., etc. However, most people are not willing to make those kinds of sacrifices, so they resort to saying that living on one income is "impossible".)
Another solution is for one person to provide childcare in one's home that includes taking care of one's own child(ren) -- my sister did that for years and so did my daughter.
SINGLE parents, however -- well, that is a completely different story and a major reason why I am against single people intentionally having children while remaining unwed. And as horrible as this might sound to some people, I think it was wrong when society started "legitimatizing" unwed motherhood, in saying that this was an perfectly acceptable life choice.
America’s child care problem is about to get a lot worse.
I find myself wondering whether the phenomenon is just American. Families are getting smaller and populations older in a great many countries. Inflation seems to be worldwide, too.
Seems to me it is just another part of what is driving population decline.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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It is still possible to have one income and do just fine, it requires living in a low-cost city where you have a high paying job. One example is a guy that's a director for a county, making over $100k and his house cost only $350k. Here, however, the median home is $1.6 million, and the average day-care is about $2,000/month - that's $24,000/year. Even with the median household income at $195k, that's a big chunk, and property tax is over $12,000. Even the managers in tech here have a spouse working, some just making enough to pay for the daycare. These days it seems like keeping a career is more important than having a parent at home when the kids get off of school.
We became a one pay check house when our first was born 23 years ago. Yes, I have worked some PT jobs throughout the years but my husband has been the primary breadwinner.
We wouldn't have been able to do it if we hadn't both worked years beforehand, bought a house that we could manage on one salary and paid off all our debt before we had kids. We've also lived in suburban neighbohoods, not in cities where the costs seem to be higher.
There are still plenty of one income families out there. The stay at home spouses are more open to doing a little gig work - dog sitting, baby sitting, house sitting, ebay/etsy shops, etc to bring in a little extra money.
I also see more couples staggering their work hours so that both can work while having one of them at home most of the days. Grandparents often fill in the gaps as needed.
It is still possible to have one income and do just fine, it requires living in a low-cost city where you have a high paying job. One example is a guy that's a director for a county, making over $100k and his house cost only $350k. Here, however, the median home is $1.6 million, and the average day-care is about $2,000/month - that's $24,000/year. Even with the median household income at $195k, that's a big chunk, and property tax is over $12,000. Even the managers in tech here have a spouse working, some just making enough to pay for the daycare. These days it seems like keeping a career is more important than having a parent at home when the kids get off of school.
But that's awfully hard to pull off.
I live in what used to be a low cost area that is pushing medium cost now. Professional jobs are tough to come by, and what is here tends to pay a lot less, even adjusted for COL, than a similar job in a bigger metro like Charlotte or Raleigh.
My girlfriend makes about $85k working as a buyer for a manufacturing company in North Carolina. She'd struggle to make $50k locally here in TN, especially since she has only an associate's degree. The cost of living is somewhat more where she is, but not to the tune of the pay difference.
Even if you do get a professional job, if that job vaporizes, you're likely having to move, unless you can find something remote.
The median household income here is only between $40k-$50k, depending on the city. Even here, that isn't a lot of money, especially if you have kids. I wouldn't feel comfortable raising kids on my mid $80k salary.
People seem to think that a single income home only means sacrificing on vacations or a large house. What it really means for many families is sacrificing on home ownership period (and related housing insecurity with rent), fully funded retirement/college savings, and medical care in the best of situations - not to mention the opportunity cost of one parent losing career momentum and years of any kind of retirement savings/matching. In the worst of situations, it can mean not being able to afford food or clothing. My partner and I both grew up in single earner households and for that reason would never, ever put our kids through it short of one of those dream scenarios making 6 figures in a small town. That's just not reality for our careers.
I'm very concerned about this problem - daycare is expensive enough as it is where I live ($3000+ for bare minimum infant care) and hard to find (year long waitlists). Grandparents still work or don't live nearby, and there aren't many stay-at-home parents in neighborhoods anymore to split childcare with. Lots of people in my life are scrambling right now to find nanny-shares because they're nervous about maintaining a spot in their child's daycare. With 2 bedroom rents at 3-4K in the burbs and mortgages even more than that for a small starter home, being forced to drop out of the workforce due to lack of daycare spots is absolutely devastating.
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