Current Events > Average cost of daycare for infants now exceeds in-state college tuition fees

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://gestta.co.uk/child-care-costs-are-outpacing-inflation-the-average-cost-of-daycare-for-infants-now-exceeds-in-state-college-tuition-fees/

My wife quit teaching when she had our twins.

My daycare is about $12k/year, which seems quite a bit lower than tuition but still feels like a fuck ton when i have to cut a check lol. They provide the formula tho!

That website seems weird. It's from the UK (.UK) and I have to get to the fifth paragraph to even know they are talking about the USA.

I'm not knocking the validity of the site, I have no idea. But they need to do better marking what stories are about the USA because as a default when you don't say in the story where it's from it's assumed it's about the UK being a UK site.

Just another good reason to never have kids.

Gonna send my kids to college while I'm at work

If anything is going to be paid for by the government, I've always felt like M-F 7AM-6PM childcare should be top priority for that very reason.

I'm sure 50% of American parents have had the 'one of us might as well quit our job because it's just gonna pay for daycare anyway' talk.

Especially if you're not married. Dont get married and have the mom get on welfare and all the other assistance you can

We're almost at step three of Reagan's axiom

Governments view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

There was a time, not long ago, when the old lady on the third floor would watch everyone's kids, for enough to feed them and maybe some extra pocket money. Then, she was declared an "unlicensed daycare", possibly even arrested, and now everyone has to go halfway across town to a place that charges exorbitant rates.

Daycare should be free. Why cant the government step in and set up tax paid daycare centers? Having someone care for the children is a human right. Daycare owners shouldnt be allowed to be for profit and exploiting that right.

We pay 20k a year

Questionmarktarius posted...

We're almost at step three of Reagan's axiom

There was a time, not long ago, when the old lady on the third floor would watch everyone's kids, for enough to feed them and maybe some extra pocket money. Then, she was declared an "unlicensed daycare", possibly even arrested, and now everyone has to go halfway across town to a place that charges exorbitant rates.

There are already child care subsidies for poor people. Not sure about other states but in AZ you can get a daycare subsidy if the household income is 165% or less than the federal poverty line.

Questionmarktarius posted...

There was a time, not long ago, when the old lady on the third floor would watch everyone's kids, for enough to feed them and maybe some extra pocket money.

We got so lucky that we found this awesome lady that watched a bunch of kids when we had our first. She only charged $30 a day and we and our kid loved her.

Nemu posted...

If anything is going to be paid for by the government, I've always felt like M-F 7AM-6PM childcare should be top priority for that very reason.

Agreed.

Part of why childcare is so expensive is because of the strict regulations around it:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-11-18/biden-s-build-back-better-wants-to-save-america-s-child-care-business

Thats because child care doesnt work like a normal business. Looking after young children comes with a litany of regulations to ensure the programs are safe. There are square footage requirements, zoning restrictions, earthquake preparedness plans, fire safety codes, CPR certifications, nutritional guidelines, rules about parking and outdoor space, liability insurance.
The priciest regulation is a child-to-staff ratio requiring one caregiver for every three or four infants, depending on the state. Thats a lot of employees, and it explains why quality care for one baby costs more than many families can afford. Cheaper options are often unlicensed and unregulated, and parents have no guarantee their kids are secure.

But the regulations that surround it exist so that your children don't die. The only ways to fix that issue are:
1) ease regulations
2) subsidize it (maybe vouchers on a sliding scale?)
There's just no way, mathematically, to have good affordable childcare so long as we don't address one of those points.
Here's some more from the same author in an NPR interview: https://www.npr.org/2021/12/16/1064794349/child-care-costs-biden-plan

Other countries subsidize child care, but the U.S. market, while heavily regulated, is largely private which makes the industry particularly vulnerable. President Biden's Build Back Better plan outlines a path toward more affordable child care. Suddath says that's a start, but what's really needed is a full system overhaul.
"The U.S. Treasury a few months ago released a report ... and they found that your typical child care business in the U.S. entered the pandemic this has nothing to do with COVID [with] about a 1 percent profit margin, which is not a lot of wiggle room."

When you talk to economists, they say this is a perfect example of what they call a "classic market failure," which is when the price point for a good or a service in this particular instance it's child care is too expensive for the consumers, by which I mean families, and too expensive or unaffordable for the providers, the people providing that service, in [this] case, child care owners and workers. And there's no way to fix that in a private market setting.

Questionmarktarius posted...

We're almost at step three of Reagan's axiom

There was a time, not long ago, when the old lady on the third floor would watch everyone's kids, for enough to feed them and maybe some extra pocket money. Then, she was declared an "unlicensed daycare", possibly even arrested, and now everyone has to go halfway across town to a place that charges exorbitant rates.

The question is, would people go back to this model if it became legal. I'm sure a good amount would, but I don't know. Child safetyism seems to have increased over the years, for good and bad reasons, so I'd imagine it'd be hard to get people back to that mindset. For many, all those minimum worker requirements and extras are selling points.

The care workers need fair wages especially since kids have so much more needs and have to watch for allergies and all that.

Nemu posted...

If anything is going to be paid for by the government, I've always felt like M-F 7AM-6PM childcare should be top priority for that very reason.

Gotta pay for that bloated Jabba the Hut military budget.

Taharqa_ posted...

Gotta pay for that bloated Jabba the Hut military budget.

Incidentally, military bases do have free daycare.

I thought dis was what grandmothers were for???

Damn she'd be better off staying home and collecting welfare for a few years