How much of your salary goes to childcare?

[ahisma]

What percentage of your salary goes to childcare? I'm doing some consulting and need to make some hours / childcare / quality of life decisions. I'm trying to sort out a good balance. For the sake of comparison, I'm just looking for the ratio between childcare costs and the secondary breadwinner's salary.

[vludmilla]

It is very small right now because DD is in after care at elementary school and it is very modest fee. Recently, when she was still in daycare/preschool, it was 15% of our take home pay combined. It would have been 10% of our combined pretax income.
ETA: DH and I earn almost the same amount so just double these numbers if you want to consider the expense based on just one salary.

[mommylamb]

Do you mean DH's and my combined salary, or just mine? And do you mean net or gross?

Oops, didn't read your post all the way. As for the secondary breadwinner, in my house, that would be DH. It's between 15-20% of his salary not including my salary.

[lhafer]

DH is the bread winner in our family. I was the secondary income. I brought home around $3,000/mo before taxes a month. 2 kids in full time day care would have been $2,000/mo. Add on to that the time away from kids, the 2 hour roundtrip commute every day, money for gas, money for work clothes, money for drycleaning those work clothes, etc....wasn't worth it. So I became a SAHM.

Now that DD1 is in K, it would be a little less because we would just have to pay for aftercare, but it would still eat a good chunk of change. And I don't want to go back to what I was doing before anyway.

[Raewyn]

DH is the secondary income in our house, and for one newborn we're looking at close to 50% of his net pay.

However, he provides the health insurance and his company has GREAT healthcare, whereas my company has awful healthcare - my company has a $5,000 deductible before coverage even begins, his has $250.

Combine that with how few people in our area stay home, none of which are men, the difficulty for him to go back to work as employers are even less sympathetic toward a man who took time out of his career for childcare, and us not sure if we will have another baby or not and need his healthcare . . . So he has decided to not be a SAHD.

[amldaley]

Pre-tax, about 15% for one child. Our center does not discount for siblings, so soon it will be 30% of gross.

[weech]

Before taxes it's about 20% of our secondary income.

[egoldber]

DH makes more than I do, but I carry all the health insurance, so it's not quite as simple as monetary equity.

But for simplicity's sake, child care is about 22% of my gross income.

[Snow mom]

About 33% of my gross income. When DD was an infant her childcare was nearly 50% of my gross income so the 33% is an improvement for us.

[sste]

I understand the calculation you are trying to make if you are thinking about re-entering the workforce.

But after all these years I finally have a math point to make! Well, a quasi-math point. I think it is wrong and detrimental to women professionally that they "expense" 100% of the childcare expenses to their own salary. I have gone round and round on this with my college room-mate whose DH won't stop b*tching about how her childcare/commute expenses consume 3/4 of her after-tax income as a private sector corporate attorney. They have pricey childcare due to their long hours - - nanny plus private school for the older child. I keep on asking her why all the childcare comes out of HER salary in his mental accounting! They are his kids too and equally his obligation to either pay or directly provide childcare.

Anyway, I know your situation is a little different OP as I recall there has been alot of financial strain in your family So you are just trying to run the numbers. In my case, if we took the nanny and preschool entirely out of my after-tax salary it would be about 35%.

[trcy]

I work part time. Almost half of my take home pay goes to daycare. Hardly seems worth it some days :shake:

[Cam&Clay]

When I was working full-time, it was about 20% of my gross pay.

Now that I am working part-time, it is closer to half. I make less and we do a combination of preschool and sitter.

[cono0507]

I work part time. When both kids were in daycare 3 days/wk it was 15% of my gross pay. Now that ds is in elementary school and I just pay for aftercare at school for him and daycare for my four yo it is now 10% of my gross pay.

[Penny's Pappa]

DW and I make roughly the same amount. Based on one salary, childcare is currently around 27% of gross pay. Paying for childcare sucks :(


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[lhafer]

I understand the calculation you are trying to make if you are thinking about re-entering the workforce.

But after all these years I finally have a math point to make! Well, a quasi-math point. I think it is wrong and detrimental to women professionally that they "expense" 100% of the childcare expenses to their own salary. I have gone round and round on this with my college room-mate whose DH won't stop b*tching about how her childcare/commute expenses consume 3/4 of her after-tax income as a private sector corporate attorney. They have pricey childcare due to their long hours - - nanny plus private school for the older child. I keep on asking her why all the childcare comes out of HER salary in his mental accounting! They are his kids too and equally his obligation to either pay or directly provide childcare.

Anyway, I know your situation is a little different OP as I recall there has been alot of financial strain in your family So you are just trying to run the numbers. In my case, if we took the nanny and preschool entirely out of my after-tax salary it would be about 35%.

I don't think it has to be the woman's salary necessarily. I think it's looking more at who ever has the "secondary" income. If the incomes are pretty equal, then I think your reasoning is sound - as both parents would probably have to work (unless you're talking 2 6-figure salaries for example).

But usually a secondary income is less than the *bread-winner's* (for lack of a better term). If if the secondary salary is more along the lines of $20-40k gross for example - then it might become necessary to really crunch the numbers and see if child care makes sense. For example - we spent $12,000 a year in child care for just one child. When we were pregnant with #2, full time child care would have run us ~$24,000/year. Looking at my salary - we decided that getting rid of my salary really wouldn't hurt us all that much, as our children would have the benefits of a SAHM. We could modify our lifestyle in a way that would work for us.

So it's not just *his* or *her* salary - it's looking more at whoever makes the least amount of money and seeing if the money coming out for day care makes more sense than loosing an entire salary. At least that's how I see it.

[twowhat?]

35% of my gross pay goes towards childcare for 2 children (ours are in full-time daycare). DH makes just 3K more than me (gross).

[fivi2]

I don't think it has to be the woman's salary necessarily. I think it's looking more at who ever has the "secondary" income. If the incomes are pretty equal, then I think your reasoning is sound - as both parents would probably have to work (unless you're talking 2 6-figure salaries for example).

But usually a secondary income is less than the *bread-winner's* (for lack of a better term). If if the secondary salary is more along the lines of $20-40k gross for example - then it might become necessary to really crunch the numbers and see if child care makes sense. For example - we spent $12,000 a year in child care for just one child. When we were pregnant with #2, full time child care would have run us ~$24,000/year. Looking at my salary - we decided that getting rid of my salary really wouldn't hurt us all that much, as our children would have the benefits of a SAHM. We could modify our lifestyle in a way that would work for us.

So it's not just *his* or *her* salary - it's looking more at whoever makes the least amount of money and seeing if the money coming out for day care makes more sense than loosing an entire salary. At least that's how I see it.

:yeahthat:

That is how I see it - look at the secondary income and see if it is "worth it". But a lot of people in past threads have made the point that you aren't really just giving up your salary right then. You are giving up years of experience and raises that would have given you a higher salary. You are looking at being at a disadvantage if/when you decide to go back. You are giving up x amount of years toward your retirement. etc (others have said it better).

To OP, when I had two in full time care, it was close to 50% of my take home. Now it is two in after care, it is closer to 10-15% of my take home. (math isn't my strong point, but those are close).

[khalloc]

Probably its about 40% of my monthly take home pay. We get our health insurance thru my job too.

[ahisma]

Thanks everyone, this does help a lot.

I do agree that the holistic view should be to consider both salaries. In this particular situation the variable is not whether I work, but how I structure my schedule and childcare. Right now I'm trying to work during DS2's ever-shrinking nap time and in the evenings after DH is home.

We are going to be using some form of childcare to help, for either one or both DS's. It's complicated by the fact that DS1 is in morning preschool and DS2 is in afternoon Pre-K. For various reasons, that will not be changing.

I have a JD but postponed the bar for a year, in this economy that makes it tough to find work. I'm trying to find the balance between saving as much money as possible for my family and running myself into the ground. Depending on how things play out I do have a real potential for future employment in a growing field (health care reform policy). With that in mind, I also have to do a lot of proving myself. I'm working for a former client but in a much different capacity than before grad school.

My real decision at the moment is how much childcare I will use. I'm not making much, but career-wise it is an important opportunity and financially everything helps.

[sste]

I don't think it has to be the woman's salary necessarily. I think it's looking more at who ever has the "secondary" income. If the incomes are pretty equal, then I think your reasoning is sound - as both parents would probably have to work (unless you're talking 2 6-figure salaries for example).

But usually a secondary income is less than the *bread-winner's* (for lack of a better term). If if the secondary salary is more along the lines of $20-40k gross for example - then it might become necessary to really crunch the numbers and see if child care makes sense. For example - we spent $12,000 a year in child care for just one child. When we were pregnant with #2, full time child care would have run us ~$24,000/year. Looking at my salary - we decided that getting rid of my salary really wouldn't hurt us all that much, as our children would have the benefits of a SAHM. We could modify our lifestyle in a way that would work for us.

So it's not just *his* or *her* salary - it's looking more at whoever makes the least amount of money and seeing if the money coming out for day care makes more sense than loosing an entire salary. At least that's how I see it.

I do see what you are saying if your view (and nothing wrong with this view btw) is that the secondary work is just a "job," for money only and the first choice is to SAH. But if your work is your profession, vocation, whatever you want to call it that signifies the long-term investment and growth and personal satisfaction aspects of your career then I don't think it makes sense to expense all of the childcare to the lesser earner. I have seen a lot of women deciding whether to remain in the paid workplace who DID want to maintain a career and career identity in some form come up with some pretty flawed calculations that don't include things like their personal satisfaction, long-term career growth, long-term retirement, benefits (usually benefits are a healthy chunk that no one ever counts that when they do this childcare calculation) BUT do expense 100% of the childcare to the woman. It is also flawed because often the situation is that the woman is expected to get a flexible job so she can do pick-up, drop off, sick time etc., such jobs almost always pay much less, and then the childcare is taken out of her reduced flexible job salary!! Sorry to rave here, this is a pet peeve of mine . . . we professional women need to improve our accounting!

OP, sorry to go off on a tangent not directly on point to your thread. It sounds like you guys are strained to the max on multiple fronts - - money and childcare. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a happy resolution. :) You may want to look into part-time home daycare or also daycare programs that run a classic preschool in the morning and then have "aftercare" in the afternoon.

[AnnieW625]

DH makes more than I do, but I calculated using both of our incomes. DD1's school tuition ($370/mos.), after school care ($155 mos.), and DD2's full time daycare ($900 or $1120 mos (4 wk vs. 5 wk. mos.)) is just about 20% of our net pay. If you were to count that on just my salary it would be about 45%, which still wouldn't be enough for me to want to or could afford to be a SAHM. Thankfully our daycare provider gave us a break of half off of DD1 once DD2 started daycare (we knew she would when we were thinking of having a second child) because had she not the $24K in daycare a year would've been very hard to swallow. We couldn't have afforded for me to stay home so we most likely only would've had one child.

[happymomma]

When I first went back to work, I was paying about 50% (after taxes) of my pay for preschool for the kids. However, I was able to put money into the retirement fund. But even if I didn't go back to work, I would still be putting the kids in preschool. So it was nice to have extra money. It was nice that working in part time, I would always be home when the kids get off preschool. Now that the kids are in elementary school, I don't have to pay for childcare. For 3 days a week, DH will get them ready for school. But I am always there at the bus stop to pick them up.

However, summer is a whole other story. I don't even make enough to pay for the kids to go to summer camp. Sometimes I feel like I am working during the year to pay for the kids summer camp. However, we are trying to go on our vacations during summer time. This way we don't have to pay for the summer camp.

[lalasmama]

I'm the only breadwinner in my home. DD's daycare (before/aftercare through the school) is about 20% of my take-home during the school year, and closer to 35% when it's summer time.

[american_mama]

>> ... you aren't really just giving up your salary right then. You are giving up years of experience and raises that would have given you a higher salary. You are looking at being at a disadvantage if/when you decide to go back. You are giving up x amount of years toward your retirement. etc (others have said it better).

I totally agree. I've been a SAHM for 9.5 years and thinking about the above starts to frighten me.

[WolfpackMom]

DH's income is the secondary income, childcare is close to 40% of his income.

[lhafer]

:yeahthat:

That is how I see it - look at the secondary income and see if it is "worth it". But a lot of people in past threads have made the point that you aren't really just giving up your salary right then. You are giving up years of experience and raises that would have given you a higher salary. You are looking at being at a disadvantage if/when you decide to go back. You are giving up x amount of years toward your retirement. etc (others have said it better).

To OP, when I had two in full time care, it was close to 50% of my take home. Now it is two in after care, it is closer to 10-15% of my take home. (math isn't my strong point, but those are close).

Good point. And I think this is something to strongly consider when deciding about child care.

For me, it was a pretty easy decision. I hated the long term project I was on (they company didn't know how to properly implement it in the long run and it was very very frustrating - like watching a train wreck in slow motion). And going back to the bedside (for nursing) wasn't an option to me. I just didn't want to do it. Plus I had already been *away* from the bedside for 2.5 years doing this other project. So leaving was an easy decision.

Now I feel like I have the ability to start over. My kids are 5 and 19mo. I probably won't look back into work until little bit is in K...so a few more years. I am not sure what I want to do. But I have lots of different interests that I feel like I can check out and look more into over the next few years to help me figure it out.

[ZeeBaby]

We pay 25% of DH's salary in childcare. I only make about 10k more, so we are about even. I don't want to be a SAHM and he definitely doenst want to be a SAHD. Our DCP is amazing and their would be preschool costs for DD1 regardless. I do work for the government which allows me to be close to home and have vacation time and sick time. I want to get another job to make more money, but I would need to be able to make significantly more to leave.

[MoJo]

3/8 of my gross. I'm working 3 days per week, but it would be the same if I was working five. It takes my first three hours of my eight hour day to pay for daycare & preschool for my 1 and 3 year olds.

DH & I would have almost identical incomes if I was working full time (and neither of us is even half of six figures!), but if I wasn't working, we wouldn't be paying for preschool or childcare.

The tough thing about the part-time deal is when they're sick, like this week, I had to stay home with them. . . and pay for daycare . . . and not get paid myself, because I don't get sick time. It doesn't take many days like that for my working to not make sense, but we really can't cut it on DH's salary alone, and I literally get sick every time I try to work full time AND take care of the kids AND the house.

[janeybwild]

Mine is about 40%. But I also get pension payments for working which isn't factored into my take home pay, so it's not as straightforward as %

[ha98ed14]

I work part time. Almost half of my take home pay goes to daycare. Hardly seems worth it some days :shake:

Mine too right now. A little more than 50% actually. But I am looking at it as an investment in my career: getting back into the workforce after 5 years as a SAHM. In this job market, it's worth it. Plus I wanted DD to have a year of preschool before K. If I wasn't working, we could not afford to send her.

[mackmama]

Great question OP - I am also trying to ascertain when it is "worth it" financially to move from SAHM to WOTH in terms of childcare expenses. This thread is helpful!

[elephantmeg]

when we had 2 in FT daycare it was about 7% of one income. We make pretty much the same (within 100-200 a paycheck different and it varies who makes more). Now with DS in K, it is down to 3-3.5% of one income but we will need childcare in the summer and sporadically during the year (school breaks, work days etc). I work night shift so he doesn't use any after school care

[hillview]

When ds1 was born we paid a nanny 30% of my salary so about 50% of take home pay. Today we pay for private school and pay my parents about 14% of my salary (salary has gone up 20% and we pay for fewer hours). That doesn't include my bonuses.

[niccig]

But a lot of people in past threads have made the point that you aren't really just giving up your salary right then. You are giving up years of experience and raises that would have given you a higher salary. You are looking at being at a disadvantage if/when you decide to go back. You are giving up x amount of years toward your retirement. etc (others have said it better).


:yeahthat: I was someone that didn't consider that in the cost-benefit analysis of SAHM or working. Granted I hated what I did, so that was a factor too. I'm retraining for a different profession, and I should be able to earn more, so might make up for that loss of retirement. I also plan to save more for retirement to try to make that up.

[abh5e8]

right now dh and I make about the same amount...and we pay about 20% of 1 salary to childcare...but that is also with dh working nights and me days, so we pay about 10 - 15 hours a week, for a nanny for the 3 dc. i think if/when we have #4 dh will stay home until i finish my training...because at that point my earning potential will increase 4 - 5x what it is now. plus, dh plans to go back to school and change careers, to the gap in employment won't be such a big issue on his resume.

i know our situation is pretty different from most...but op, i think you just have to find what works best for your family...and that is always a combination of childcare, job - both current and potential and the satisfaction of both adults.

[BabyBearsMom]

I make about $15k more than DH gross but my take home pay is about the same because we do the FSAs through my check and I have auto deductions for my 401k and DD's 529. But, FT daycare for DD is about 15% of the net check. It is about 5% of our family's gross income. Totally worth it to me. I love my job, feel passionate about what I do and feel energized by doing it. I would work even if childcare was 99% of what I made because I would hate to leave the career and job that I have worked so hard for and love so much

[smiles33]

Probably its about 40% of my monthly take home pay. We get our health insurance thru my job too.

:yeahthat: though once DD1 started kindergarten in September, we started saving some money as she is now in a 1/2 day kindergarten and www arranged for my parents and in-laws to pick her up right after lunch.

DD2's daycare is what really hurts, though. That 3 day/week program costs about 30% of my take-home pay! Once both girls are in 1st grade or older, I figure we will have a good 90% of my take-home salary to actually invest/spend.

[TxCat]

Right now, about 60% of my pre-tax salary goes to childcare - full-time nanny. Next year, I will be the breadwinner and DH will have the smaller income - it will be a little under 50% of his pre-tax salary. It's not worth it from a monetary perspective, but I can't quit because I will soon be the breadwinner, and my DH doesn't want to quit his job because he loves it.

[mommy111]

50% of my post tax salary goes to childcare and I am a single parent whose ex does not contribute anything to childcare. But I have long crazy work hours.

[kozachka]

DS after-school childcare is between 6% and 10% of my gross pay (less if you count my target bonus and benefits), depending on whether you count summer camps, coverage for school days off and occasional babysitter to cover in the evenings when DH is out of town or not. It would have been much higher percentage of my gross pay when DS was young as care was more expensive and my income potential lower. We also eat out more and I spend way more on clothing/shoes than when I was a SAHP. So there are more expenses that come from working other than childcare.

[KHF]

Our childcare right now is about 33% of DH's gross salary. During school vacations, it goes up to about 39%.

[wendibird22]

For two kids in FT daycare it's about 28% of my annual gross.

[lizzywednesday]

None yet, but I'm researching costs at local places because having a toddler in the house while I'm trying to work is just not working.

Also, DH is planning to go back to work soon (he's been out of work since January) and I would rather DD go to daycare than spend any additional time with his SIL and her kids. They are lovely kids, but his SIL's parenting philosophy doesn't gel with mine and the less time and influence she has on my DD, the better, IMO. (Also, since DD is going through a "monkey see monkey do" phase right now, I would really prefer it if she spent less time with her much-older cousins because they do things like climb and jump on furniture, which we are trying to discourage in DD. Yes, it's normal, but a 9 y/o shouldn't be this destructive IMO. Yes, the 9 y/o jumps on the furniture.)