My husband and I have been discussing whether or not it's worth it for me to go back to work once we have a child (we aren't even pregnant yet - so this is just a discussion). I'd love to be a SAHM, but he doesn't think we can swing it.
So I can provide some numbers for the conversation, how much did you pay for childcare for one child per month? If it helps at all, I'm located in Virginia. I know it varies greatly by area.
GOLD / cantaloupe / 6581 posts
We pay 675$, but I also live in a very low cost of living area.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I don't think hard dollar figures help in these discussions, it's probably better to look at what percentage of your pay it would be.
I pay just a bit under 1/4 of my after tax take home pay. I basically work one week to pay for my son's monthly day care fee.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
Ugh. We pay weekly but the monthly amount comes to roughly $953/month. We're in NY State.
grapefruit / 4278 posts
We pay $165/wk, which is on the low end for our area. It really varies so much by area. You should send out a few information seeking emails to local daycares to get their rates.
GOLD / papaya / 10166 posts
The cheapest place we could find (that was still a good place) was $205/week, so that works out to $820 every 4 weeks.
bananas / 9357 posts
We pay $150/week. This is about the going rate for an in home center. $200-250/week for a center.
I laughed at my DH yesterday for thinking that the $150/week that we pay was monthly.
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
In Atlanta and I pay $1210 a month. That is with her in one in the burbs where I work. In the city where we live would have been $1600+
GOLD / squash / 13576 posts
@looch: Agree...
The problem is that daycare varies greatly based on where you are living. You need to compare the cost of daycare to your take home pay and see how it relates. If there is an immaterial difference, then you need to think about the intangible aspects of working vs. staying at home. Ex: Are you going to have issues re-entering the work place, if you choose to do so?
persimmon / 1304 posts
We are going to pay $660 for 3 days a week (that's 4 weeks tuition added up, so not quite a full month...).
FWIW, I think our daycare's full time rate is $265/week, so about $1,060/month. Others we looked at were $1000-1200/month. We are outside of fairly large city.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
It was $240/week for an infant. $210/week for a 1 year old.
When we move to the other side of town, those costs are going to go back up. Makes me sad.
GOLD / pineapple / 12662 posts
LO is cared for at home now, but we are looking to start her in daycare at around 14-15 months. We have a spot reserved for her in a daycare, and it is $1,600 per month.
grapefruit / 4923 posts
i live in northern virginia (about 30-40 minutes outside DC) and the cost of infant daycare in this area is $1100-1600. when we lived in maryland, in a highly desirable location not far from DC, it was around $2000.
GOLD / squash / 13576 posts
In the DC area, daycares (not in home) range from $1,600 - $2,500 for an infant.
GOLD / cantaloupe / 6581 posts
@looch: @littlek: very good point. My daycare costs are 1/3 of my take home pay. We also had to take into account that to put LO on my health insurance is 600$ cheaper a month than putting it on DH's.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@regberadaisy: We must pay the same!
We also pay weekly ($220/week), but monthly comes out to $953. We live in New England.
nectarine / 2932 posts
@littlek: No, I don't think I'd have a problem re-entering the work place.
I was just looking for a rough estimate. I honestly had no clue what a guess would even have been. So this isn't me looking for concrete numbers or anything. Once I'm pregnant I'll have to start looking into it more in depth.
hostess / papaya / 10219 posts
@looch: Ah good point. It is a little less than 1/4 of my take home. So similar to you.... I work 1 week to pay for his day care. We joke that I basically just work to pay for health care because DH's work plans are terrible and mine are pretty good. At least, as a teacher, they give us good ins. coverage!
coconut / 8472 posts
@Adira: Wow. That's a really good deal for this area. Though maybe you're farther away from where I am.
Of the daycares we are considering, they are: $426/week, $300/week and $1325/month (though we may be able to get a 10% discount and you can take 2 weeks summer vacation without paying). A few miles away where my husband works, which is an extremely expensive Boston suburb, the cost is more $3k/month.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@MrsCB: A lot of the daycares in my area were around $300-$350/week - we just got really lucky to find an inexpensive one that's also GOOD! I'm also not as close to Boston as I think you are, so that helps!
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
We live in a Boston suburb (about 20-30 mins from city center) and the cost for ours is very reasonable for our area. $345/week for pre-k, $385/week for toddler (they only take 15 months and up). We'll be paying double daycare for 2 years starting in October so it's time to be really, really broke for a while!! 
pomegranate / 3008 posts
$1,650 for infants
$1,500 for toddlers
This includes meals and snacks once they eat table food.
pomelo / 5326 posts
In my city it ranges from about 750$ a month for full time home day care, to about 1200$ a month for an infant spot at a centre. I am planning on going back to work 3 days a week, so it'll be less than that.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
@Littlebit: Its probably easier to make a quick phone call to a place near you and just ask.
For us, we pay about $900 for full time infant care at a center type place.
nectarine / 2932 posts
Holy moly. This is making my head spin! I bring home a very little amount, so I'm really not sure it's worth working 40 hours a week to pay for child care and not much else. But I guess we'll also have to figure in health insurance and everything else.
Thank you for weighing in ladies! I appreciate it.
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
We will pay $350/week for 4 days outside of Boston. It would be a little over $400/week for full time. It's an in-home place.
GOLD / squash / 13576 posts
@Littlebit: Okay, that should be cheaper than the prices I quoted.
pineapple / 12793 posts
We will pay $1800 a month when LO starts in January. We are in Toronto.
nectarine / 2932 posts
@littlek: I hope so! DH is hoping we have family members who can watch part time...so all is not lost! 
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
I'm in North TX and the average is about $900-$1,000 per month. We did find an in home Montessori for $600 per month, but she seemed to have a lot of kids already.
pear / 1879 posts
This is a discussion we hav had often. We pay roughly $1200/month for in-home daycare (through an agency). We love in the NY metro area though, so it's not actually all that bad.
cherry / 175 posts
I will be paying a little under $1200/month for full-time infant care (16-18 mo = infant care) at a center (4-5 days = full-time).
nectarine / 2127 posts
I'm in the Midwest, I pay $165/week. It's the best, though priciest, around me. Everything else was $130/week.
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
It will be $560 per month when LO goes...also a low cost of living area.
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