Day Care Costs Don’t Have to Send You to the Poorhouse

 

Congratulations! You’ve just had a baby. Or perhaps, circumstances require you to return to work.  Either way, the need to get back to work and the mounting pressure of wondering what you’re going to pay in daycare costs is likely causing you to lose sleep. But it needn’t be so. Keep in mind that your child continues to grow and in about 4 years your daycare costs will begin declining as your child enters school.

As more time is spent in school and after school activities, less time will be spent in daycare. Even though it is a small percentage, child care expenses are deductible off your taxes. Other ways to combat daycare costs include rearranging your work schedule if at all possible, sharing child care with your spouse or partner, and finding a telecommute job so you can stay at home. Relatives or family friends can often help out. High school or college students are also a source worth looking into. If you live near a large college, it may be profitable for you to place an ad in the newspaper, and if you have the space, considering offering a trade of room and board for childcare. Of course, not all of these options apply to everyone, but these ideas can lead to brainstorming and solutions can follow.

Daycare costs depend primarily on where you reside, the type of daycare you need and how often you’ll need it, and how old your child is. The biggest factor in determining daycare costs is your location. But most of us are not able or willing to change where we live, so let’s take a look at some of the other factors. Your child’s age is also not a variable factor, but it can be a consideration when deciding how much time to have him spend in daycare. 

You might want to consider that the more time your child spends in daycare each week, the better the quality of that care should be. That does not necessarily mean that a family daycare provider will have better prices but lower quality care, for the reverse is also true of some larger daycare centers. Daycare costs are solely dependent on the provider and the rates that the market in your area can bear. Daycare centers are not usually as expensive as nannies; however, in-home care can be less expensive than a daycare center. Daycare costs are going to impact your income no matter which type you choose. But quality definitely differs in that a small, unlicensed family daycare provider may in fact give more individualized attention than a larger facility if that provider has a genuine love of children. One does not have to have a bachelor’s degree to love children.

On the other hand, a larger licensed daycare center may provide a more structured educational environment and have more children for your child to interact with but based on your location this may not be any more expensive than some of your other options. 

Military personnel (activated deployed only) can file for federal or state financial aid for daycare costs. Dependent on your income, some states can provide subsidized aid.

Child
Care Resources and Referral (CCR&R) are available nationwide.  Each state may vary, but all can generally assist a parent in determining which type of childcare is best for your family and the varying daycare costs for your area. 


Location: Salt Lake City, UT, USA

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