The High, High Cost of Childcare

As an addendum to my previous post about Cathy's pregnancy, I wanted to make a quick post about the cost of childcare.

One of the administrative staff mentioned to me that Cathy may be quitting after she has her baby due to the cost of childcare. This, I knew. She then went on to say that she didn't understand why she would quit because her childcare is "dirt cheap." Now, I would question any childcare provider that was "dirt cheap," but that's another story. So I said, "I have no idea what childcare even costs." She replied, "well, Cathy is only paying $25 a day, which is about half the going rate!" Hmmm....that does sound suspect....and very cheap. Until you stop and think about what that means.

$25/day x 5 days/week = $125/week. Not bad.

$125/week x 50 weeks/year (I'm taking off vacations) = $6,250/year. Not chump change, but certainly reasonable.

$6,250/year x 2 kids = $12,500. Okay, now this is getting expensive.

So, the question remains: Would you quit a $40,000 (approximately) / year job so that you could stay home with your kids and save $12,500? I probably would, but the difference is, I could. Although I don't really know what Cathy's husband makes per year, I get the impression it isn't a lot since she's always complaining that they are broke. My DH doesn't pull in a huge sum, but I could definitely quit my job and stay home without too much fuss (but we're also close to being completely debt-free). Now, putting two kids into the mix....oof! That might get a little tight. And doesn't sound like a hell of a lot of fun.

Then there is the other internal battle: do you want somebody else essentially raising your kids? I'm sure I wouldn't, yet I'd have a heck of a time not having a career. What I do is part of who I am. It would be very difficult for me.

Now, Cathy is not exactly career-minded. And I don't fault her for that. The problem with Cathy is that she continuously berates those people who are. She also complains that the same people have more than she does. I don't understand why it's so hard to figure out why!

So, with this additional baby comes additional burdens. I'm sure she won't be the only one suffering, however. She'll try to pull the rest of us down with her.....