Child Care is Expensive, or Why I Bought My Mother-In-Law a Car

[gillr]

@veron It's weird in my HCOL I've noticed there are a lot of childcare options that are super expensive but I noticed something interesting, they were owned by private equity firms from halfway across the country. Found some more options around town after talking to parents. Went from 2.8k to 1.6k. Loving it so far, and far more community oriented. This is for a Montessori

 

[brandonhi]

@gillr One of the most expensive daycare chains near me was recently bought out by a Canadian company. They’ve also had issues with abusive employees.

We were all in on them because my wife worked for them a few years before that went down. Then we noticed the fuckery. Kiddie Academy it is.

 

[saggipss]

@gillr We switched from a national chain charging 2.7K a month to a local school that charged 1.8K a month (this was two years ago). The local school was miles better. The big chains offer food and a constant stream of photos and videos on the app and maybe less school closures during the year but the staff were all miserable and there was no plan for what the kids did other than just play all day in a room full of toys. I definitely lost faith in the national chains.

 

[veron]

@gillr I'm sure there are cheaper options, but my wife and I commute in opposite directions so we really are limited to something in walking distance. Every other option in our area is a home daycare with no reviews/references readily available or doesn't cover the hours we need. We currently pay for 8-6 and many programs didn't even start until 9.

 

[brandonhi]

@veron $3,300 in Manhattan sounds like you’re robbing someone lol.

 

[joeforchrist]

@brandonhi Lived in downtown Brooklyn. $3,400/mo for

 

[brandonhi]

@aishalem I’m in Central NJ. He’s going to go to a lower cost child care, but they’re actually really good. Others would have cost near $3,500 a month.

 

[kellyam]

@brandonhi Dang, also central NJ here. We've got 2 kids in 5 days a week for about $3,200/month total. I gotta wonder what daycare would be that much for one kid??

Thankfully one is nearing Kindergarten. Going to a catholic school but it's like 1/3 the cost of daycare, so still a win.... I guess.

 

[brandonhi]

@kellyam I’ll give you a hint, it starts with an M lol

 

[aerial]

@aishalem That’s crazy. I’m in the southwest burbs and I have a really nice daycare for $1100

 

[aishalem]

@aerial These north shore prices are insane man. We moved up here for the schools (New Trier, etc) but childcare/taxes kill me

 

[mjbarnett]

@aishalem Gotta move southwest

 

[laxkid3]

@aishalem Man that's nuts for Chicago burbs? I though that Chicago was maybe comparable to Houston for cost of living. We're in Raleigh paying $3k/mo (moved from Austin and have lived previously in Houston), but $3k/mo here is for a fancy pants daycare.

 

[sbwoolverton]

@aishalem 3.5k/month sounds asinine for Chicago burbs. I’m in city proper in Lincoln park and the infant room is not more than $2700 a month. Heck, elementary private schools in Chicagoland are in the 30-35k per year range and you’re beating those by a good margin

 

[bwattz]

@aishalem Western Chicago suburb checking in. We got roughly $2k estimate from a bit of research (Oak Park). Of course, those daycares have a two year waiting list. Two years .... so you sign up when you get a twinkle in your eye about having a kid in the future I guess?

We're very lucky to have an amazing friend / med student who lives in our building. She watched the kid whenever she is free, which allows me to WFH while my wife works in the office.

Man, childcare costs are just insane. It's a part time job paycheck!

 

[izacky66]

@brandonhi It would currently be more cost effective to buy my mother a house close to me than pay for daycare. Unfortunately it's too far of a move for her...

 

[brandonhi]

@izacky66 She’s just being selfish! Lol jk. It’s really incredible how expensive it is.

 

[izacky66]

@brandonhi Im paying 21k a year for 2 kids in daycare...All I can think is how much money I'd be able.to put to retirement or just generally have to not worry about bills if I didn't have to pay more than my mortgage in daycare costs.

Feels bad man...

 

[brandonhi]

@izacky66 The light at the end of the tunnel is we’ll, hopefully, have wonderful, intelligent little kids that grow to be wonderful, intelligent adults.

 

[freeme2013]

@brandonhi We live in a very HCOL area too. My MIL was a school lunch lady. It just so happened that she hit her 20 year mark that guaranteed her health insurance and allowed her to retire the year we had my first daughter. She watches now all three of my kids in my house while I work from home so she’s not completely alone with all 3 kids but we pay her 15hr for 40hr a week and we bought her a car as well. (A used Kia optima) so about 32K a year. And that is so cheap compared to what it would cost for child care.