Daycare frustration

[IDoDis]

When DS was in kindergarden I found that it was actually cost the same to send him to a full day private kindergarden as it was to send him for daycare for half a day. I was definitely easier to drop him off in the morning and pick up up at night, rather than do all the back and forth. You might want to check into it.

Same here. We opted for full day private kinder instead of 1/2 and 1/2. The school also had an after school care program for $1 an hour. I was able to carpool with someone most days so I dropped off and the other mom picked up and kept my DD for an hour until I got off work. DD benefited from full day.

After kinder, we moved her to public school.

 

[luvsJack]

Daycare just really ticks me off here. A girl I know at work has her kids in full time daycare paying 25 a week lives at home with her mom, has her boyfriend there and gets child support. Then my work laid her off and she decided to stay home for 3 months while her kids still went to daycare for free full time. 2/3 of my check goes to paying for my daycare for one child. Gotta love the system!!
Good luck I say if you have medical from you husbands job then I would quit your job and stay home. Maybe do like other posters say and you can do before / after care for other kids in the neighborhood and make some extra money.

That one would make me angry, too. The two programs we have here, TANF and another called "the district" (not sure what it may be called in other states) require that a person work x number of hours a week and/or go to school x number of hours a week. In fact, the ones in school are required to work also--so they are really not getting as much of a free ride as it sounds.

I will say this, from the prospective of a former child care provider; it is unfair that some people work hard and cannot get assistance, but for some of these kids it is so much better for them that they are able to go to day care every day. And for every one parent that took advantage of the system there were 5 others that really appreciated the help and desperately needed it.



OP, I agree that you should really take a long look at whether its even worth your while to work at all. If you add up all the little expenses (like work clothes, gas, lunches out, money to go to office gift giving, etc.) you may find that it really is costing you a lot to work.

 

[golfgal]

I don't understand why you keep working if you really aren't making any money? You would be better off finding a retail job in the evenings/weekend and not having to pay daycare costs at all. I know of several people that when they did the math they aren't making anything working. WHY???

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Eek, one of many reasons I left my job when I did and I only had one infant in daycare that was 5 seconds from my work.


Would you fare better if you just dropped her off at school?


I understand daycares need to make money themselves, but it seems very counter productive to have almost an entire salary cover child care.

 

[HM]

Be aware that if you paid someone more than $1,400 in one year to care for your children in your own home, you are probably responsible to pay the "nanny tax". However, if you pay someone to care for your children in the provider's home, they are responsible to pay self-employment taxes and you most likely will get a childcare credit on your taxes. (depending on which bracket you fall in)

Sorry I didn't mention that. I did pay SS and Medicare taxes for my "nanny". It is done on a quarterly basis and isn't that hard to do.

 

[HM]

As for my daycare thing, Watching other kids would drive me crazy and nannies here cost more than any of the arrangements I've found. The $1.50/hour amount was what I end up with taxes and the expenses of working. At least after this year DD will be in first grade, and I can get that extra money back.

What you don't want to do is look at nanny agencies. Yikes.
You'll want to put an ad in the paper looking for someone or to ask someone you know that might want to do this type of job. We found our "nanny" at a daycare. She hated working there and wanted out. It was a win-win for us, as she didn't have to pay for daycare for her daughter since we allowed her to come to our house too, and we paid her a rate equal to what he had been paying for our two kids at a daycare. Other options are stay-at-home moms you know, or someone from your church. I'm sure that you can probably come up with other places to locate help too.

 

[HM]

I don't understand why you keep working if you really aren't making any money? You would be better off finding a retail job in the evenings/weekend and not having to pay daycare costs at all. I know of several people that when they did the math they aren't making anything working. WHY???

The two biggest reasons I can think of are: 1) women in careers that need to keep up to date in their field 2) healthcare/insurance

 

[ohiomom28]

I was thinking that same thing. I bet she isn't including his income. I stopped qualifying for daycare assistance years ago and I made about $8 an hour. I know limits have raised since the last 7 years but still, I doubt she is giving the whole story.