The Cost of Child Care
Marianne is a working mom of two who lives on the East Coast. One of the biggest challenges she faced after having her children was to find child care that was both affordable and up to her standards in regards to the care of her children. Or, she wondered, was it more feasible for her to stay home instead.
Marianne and her family decided that the smarter decision financially was for her to go back to work. It is a struggle that she deals with every day knowing that she works just to pay for health insurance and childcare. Like most women across the United States, she questions her decision to return back to work instead of staying home.
According to the National Association of Child Care Resources, the average cost for child care for children aged three to four is about $11,000 dollars a year. The costs are considerably higher if your children are less than three years old. Compare these figures with the fact that the gross average income for families with young children in the United States is $53,000 dollars a year, makes one wonder if paying for childcare is really worth it.
Decades ago, it was feasible for Mom to stay home and watch the kids while Dad put in his time at the office and brought home the bacon. In today's world however, determining who fulfills what role is not cut and dry decision, especially given the fact that most families would struggle on a single income family. With the rising costs of food to utility bills to gas for the car, the average American family can generally pay for the necessities - home, transportation, etc., but not much else. Childcare can eat up an easy 25% of take home pay. So the million dollar question today is: is it more beneficial to the family for both parents to work versus having one parent stay at home with the kids?
The only person that can answer that is you. It is important that you take the time to figure out your expenses and income and then factor in the cost of daycare. Then you will need to figure out how much different your household income is if you drop down to one and stay home to raise your kids.
Once you are armed with this information then you will need to determine if there is anything that you are paying for that you really could cut out of your expenses (like that gym membership that you never use). Based on all the information that you gathered you should then be able to make an informed decision about whether or not it is financially better for you to stay home with your children.
Reaching a decision on whether or not one spouse should work while one stays at home the kids can be quite difficult. It is one that you should really look from all angles before you make the decision. Not only are there costs to consider, but the additional stress that comes with balancing a career and family life in general - minus the kids. There may other options to earn an income that involve stay at home positions such as freelance work. Whatever the case may be, the final decision is left to the familial unit.
