If You Can't Afford Child Care, Here Are Desperate Measures Others Are Taking
The cost of child care in the U.S. has been on a steep incline, with a perfect storm of factors contributing: inflation, labor shortages and increasingly strict safety regulations (the last being for the best, but still creating a major financial pain point).
A new report by LendingTree found that the average annual cost for child care of an infant and a 4-year-old is $28,190. For a family to comfortably afford this, they need to earn $402,708 a year. Typical two-child households earn $145,656. You don't need to be good at math to recognize the shocking disparity between what we make and what we need to make in order to raise kids.
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To afford child care without spiraling into debt, parents are getting creative and, in some cases, making tough sacrifices. Here are some of the things they're doing to cram the astronomical cost of child care into their budgets.
Moms Are Joining Forces With Other Moms
They say it takes a village to raise a child. Few, if any of us, have access to said village. But if we have fellow mom friends in our area, we can create something of our own village.
"I've been doing something with about eight moms," said Niki Papaioannou, founder of Niki Inc., adding that she was once paying $2,500 per month for care for her two children. "We pay for an indoor play place and take our kids. They play for hours while we all have our laptops open. This is much cheaper than child care and they are in a playful environment with many eyes open to their safety."
Papaioannou's arrangement sounds like a genius one for parents who work remotely in positions with fairly flexible schedules.
Parents Are Moving Their Parents In With Them
Paul Whitten, CEO and historian at Nashville Adventures, says the steep expense of child care has forced his family into "desperation."
"We tried running the numbers for every option," said Whitten. "Nanny. Daycare. Part-time help. It all was way too painful an expense."
To make child care affordable, the Whittens turned to a drastic measure, moving one of their parents to on-site child care.
"The only thing that actually worked was having my mother-in-law move in with us," Whitten said. "It wasn't the plan we imagined, but it was the plan that made life workable."
And "workable" does not mean "enjoyable."
"I'm used to making hard tradeoffs, but this one was deeply personal," Whitten said. "And, to be honest, it sucks."
Parents Are Drastically Budgeting and Working More
Most middle-class families are struggling to get by, even without the mounting cost of child care factored in. They're already cutting back their spending to reconcile with the elevated costs of living and a turbulent job market. With the cost of child care being such a wildly substantial one, they're slashing their budgets even further, all while doing everything they can to bring in extra money.
"One mom told us that she has resorted to donating plasma for extra cash; another takes her child with her on DoorDash deliveries," said Matthew Orsini, media relations manager at BabyCenter. "Other parents say they're dropping extracurriculars like sports or music as luxuries they can't afford for their children."
Child Care Is So Expensive, Many Women Choose Not To Have Kids
Many Americans, including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, have both expressed a desire to see more American women bearing children in the U.S. To get women on board, they'd better start footing some of the (tax) bill. Many moms are choosing not to have more kids because of the staggeringly steep costs of child care.
"What's particularly alarming is how child care costs are reshaping family planning itself," said Orsini. "Nearly half of mothers (49%) say that child care expenses have negatively impacted their plans to grow their family, with 24% deciding to have fewer children than they wanted and 25% pausing or delaying because care is so expensive."
Until child care becomes affordable, many women will back away from motherhood, understanding that having kids could very well mean financial devastation.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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