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

[sandraqx10]

@brandonhi I DID THIS. It felt insane. We spent $15k on a 2014 lowish mileage yaris, and we pay the insurance and gas. Still cheaper and kids get to be cared for by my MIL whom they love. Thank god she is so energetic and her eyes / ears work well so she can still drive. She's 84. I love the kids get to be partially raised by their greatest gen grandma, who loves them so much.

I don't know what the fuck we would do otherwise.

My own Dad is a boomer and not really interested in doing much with his grandkids, so we got so lucky with MIL. We might end up moving her in with us if she gets to a point where she can't drive. But she might opt for a more social retirement community instead.

 

[hannahhansen]

@brandonhi that's not insane at all. If you pay someone only enough to afford a car as a favor to you, that's much much less than when you pay someone who does it as a job and needs at least a living wage.

 

[starbrite1]

@brandonhi I probably sound insane, but it's not actually that surprising to me that a mass produced economy car is cheaper than paying trained humans to watch my child 10 hours a day. Baumols Cost Disease for the win.

 

[ayanne441]

@brandonhi In a HCOL city in an (the?) “educated part of the south”. We’re paying $39,600/year for two in daycare (3.5, 7mo). I now wish my MIL didn’t have a car.

 

[optimistic84]

@ayanne441 Tell her she needs a brand new one for a price hahah

 

[mjbarnett]

@brandonhi Those are rookie numbers. Wait until you have two in daycare at once

 

[brandonhi]

@mjbarnett Snip-snip coming May 31st lol! We’re one and done.

 

[mjbarnett]

@brandonhi Still got plenty of time before 5/31.. gotta bump those numbers up

 

[brandonhi]

@mjbarnett You stop that right now! Lol! It’s gonna be a dry summer for me

 

[mrdann]

@brandonhi Don't forget to get the post-procedure testing done 2 months later lol, plenty of dads preparing for #2 after not waiting long enough

 

[brandonhi]

@mrdann Lol def, that’s why I said it’ll be a dry summer. No nookie for me til August at least

 

[dreamchaser222]

@brandonhi Name checks

 

[kalistos]

@brandonhi My grandma is 95, and lives in an amazing retirement home in Western Europe (MCOL/HCOL area) which has 24/7 medical staff, daily physical therapy, nice amenities (great restaurant and bar, nice garden, hair dresser, cleaners, nurses, social workers, cable TV, etc.). She pays a little less than her monthly pension which is indexed to inflation, so there's no stress about running out of money or living longer than planner. She pays about $25k/year. Obviously government subsidized because, you know, a society should care about its elders.

By contrast, we pay over $31k/year for 40h/week of childcare in our HCOL area. Since our kids will become the next generation of - hopefully productive and well-raised - workers and tax payers, why can't we subsidize childcare so that parents can afford to find a paying job if they would like to do so?

Subsidizing childcare is expensive in the short run, but it pays off dividends for both kids and parents for many years and decades after.

Recent data shows that in all 50 US states (plus D.C.), the price of center-based care for two children exceeded average annual rent payments by 24% to over 100%.

Similarly, in 41 states (plus D.C.), the average annual price of child care for two children in a center exceeds average annual mortgage payments by anywhere from 1% to 53%.

As if parenting isn't hard enough as it is.

 

[kandrew]

@kalistos Well kids can’t vote so that’s probably why it’s not subsidized.

 

[silvac]

@kandrew The average US resident is 39. But the average voter is north of 55

 

[trendycollections]

@kalistos Part of the problem is the incidence of subsidies is split between the providers and the public. It’s much better to have subsidy targeted at parents, you know, like a fully refundable tax credit. Unfortunately the party that controls part of our government isn’t interested… https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/dai...-tax-relief-american-families-and-workers-act

 

[brandonhi]

@kalistos Preeeeeeach bro. I just watched a CNBC YouTube video about how expensive it is to live here now. My household income is barely middle class in my state, NJ. It’s insane.

 

[dfc302]

@kalistos This thing is expensive for me, you know what, I think the government should pay for it instead

 

[kalistos]

@dfc302 Try: this thing has positive externalities on society (increasing productivity of future tax base) and also causes a systemic market imperfection (kids cannot borrow against their future earnings to invest in their own high-quality childcare when younger), so there's a clear role for government intervention because the free market cannot solve these issues by itself. Kids cannot force their parents to invest in them (either time, or money, or high-quality childcare), so yes, the government should step in and make it easier for parents to invest in their kids if they lack the preference and/or the means to do so. Hence why kindergarten from age 3-6 is mandatory and fully subsidized in many developed countries.

See also: why do governments pay for other expensive things like public roads, public schools, the military, and pensions?

 

[mrdann]

@kalistos

By contrast, we pay over $31k/year for 40h/week of childcare in our HCOL area. Since our kids will become the next generation of - hopefully productive and well-raised - workers and tax payers, why can't we subsidize childcare so that parents can afford to find a paying job if they would like to do so?

You realize parents can already choose to work if they want to in order to pay for daycare, right? Why do we need to subsidize your daycare if both parents are working?

You're comparing childcare for 2 kids in urban centers which is going to be expensive. If it exceeds the cost of your mortgage and it's expensive, then maybe family plan better next time?