Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» "My child care costs more than my mortgage". Can that be true? Is it true for you or anyone you know? How is that affordable?
2020
2019
2020
2019
One Child
One Child
Two Children
Two Children
Nanny
$612
$565
$654
$585
Child care center (toddler)*
$340
$182
$640**
$346**
Family care center*
$300
$177
$570**
$336**
After-school Sitter
$244
$243
$248
$246
Thank you very much for your extremely informative and helpful reply to my question glenho. I appreciate it a lot! That is scary to me. Who makes that kind of money among the "working class" which is what I always was? Happy Friday to thee and thine m'dear! :)
Normally I'd reply with a :):):). Well I do to you for your participation in this thread glenho but the information you provide is not happyface worthy! Which of course is not your fault! Just so ya know! :)
Our son and his wife pay a lot for day care. What makes me mad is for years our goverment has been promising affordable substadized day care but never put it through. And now that we are having a election the promise is 10X louder but you know they won't do anything about it once the election is over. Cheers and happy weekend!
I am kinda shocked at your reply Nanoose. I thought Canada provided very affordable health care child care and and other kind of care for their citizens because they CARE. But they don't? Geez I'm disappointed. I know there is no country that is perfect but I always thought Canada and Australia were as close as you could come to it. Another idol falls. Thank you for your reply and Happy Friday to thee and thine! :)
This post was edited by RosieG at August 20, 2021 3:02 PM MDT
The sad irony is that Child Care is a necessity for most middle-income families ... as both parents have to work, in order to afford just the basics of housing and food. Few families can afford to have only a single earner.
And as the price of housing, gas, and food increases - it is only going to get worse.
True, but the internet is cheap and this site is free. I think many couples' spending is out of control. I don't know the statistics, but I would imagine a large majority of parents have a large credit debt.
Did you live on base housing? (Less expensive than off-base, right?) Were you aboard ship most of the time? (That is free meals, right?)
Do you think your children can purchase/rent the same size house today, for the amount you spent 40 years ago?
According to economists, this is the first generation in America that will have a lower standard of living than their parents. Why? Because the same wages do not have as much purchasing power.
However, in general, if a child has the same job as their parent today, they are making a lower standard of living because wages have not kept up with the cost of living.
Even people who are working are having less purchasing power, if their annual increase doesn't keep up with inflation.
Personally, in 2020 I had a 3% wage increase. Inflation was 1.25% ... so my effective wage increase was 1.75%.
In 2021, I again had a 3% wage increase. But inflation is expected to be 2.26% this year. That drops my effective wage increase to 0.74%.
Actually, it's probably less than those numbers because prices are higher in my area.
Those numbers are unfortunate. In the last eight years of my teaching career, step salary increases for longevity disappeared and two levies provided very low pay increases. That, and other reasons, caused an increase in retirements.
Our union contracts have 2 pay increases ... 1 step increase on anniversary, and 1 Cost-Of-Living increase on the date of the agreement ratification anniversary. Except there are no anniversary increases for years 16-19 and 21-24, or after 25 years. Both increases are necessary to stay (slightly) ahead of inflation.
Personally, I think wage increases for hourly employees should be tied to the amount of inflation PLUS. So if an employer gives a 3% wage increase ... but inflation is 2% ... the increase should be 5%. I even tried suggesting that to the union I was in, but they were not interested. So much for unions caring about the membership.
Would you rather see child care providers be unable to afford their rent or mortgage payments? People who provide a valuable service deserve to be paid. What about attorneys who help people get out of legal jams or accountants who help people with tax issues? What if paying them costs more than rent or mortgage payments? What do you want to do about that?
Nobody is forced to have children. If you don't wish to take responsibility and bear the expenses for their care, then don't have kids. Or stay home and take care of them yourself. Nobody is entitled to anything.
This post was edited by Stu Spelling Bee at August 20, 2021 3:05 PM MDT
Sometimes, circumstances force people to have to work rather than stay home and take care of their children. A woman who finds herself a divorcee or perhaps a widow may have to go to work and with a reduced income, may find it difficult to pay for child care.
There are a couple solutions, but none that are ideal.
One solution would be to impose price controls on all necessities. But then someone has to define what a necessity is. IE: a single person doesn't NEED a 4-bedroom home ... so would the price control on that only apply to families with 4 members in the household? But if a single person wanted to buy it, the seller could ask for whatever price the buyer was willing to pay.
OR ... internet access now seems to be a necessity, since so few places take "in person" applications anymore. But what speed is necessary? Give everybody a minimum speed, and if you want faster you have to pay a premium?
No one forces child care providers to do that work. If they can do something else to earn enough money to keep themselves then they should do that. I'm not sure what the answer is, but with more and more families needing two incomes, perhaps there needs to be some sort of universal childcare available.
Who forces anybody to do any particular kind of work? What about two-income families where one income comes from being a child-care provider? And universal child care sounds great, but with it comes the ages-old question of who pays? Perhaps government, but most people wouldn't want their taxes raised to cover it, and no politician wants to be known for raising taxes.
glenho 