Daycare Costs: How Much a Day?

Are you one of the cool kids who decided to have children? Congratulations! Now, it's time for reality to hit- daycare costs. But don't sweat it, I'm here with all the juicy details on how much daycare actually costs. Let's dive into this expensive world together.

The Depressing Numbers

Let me start by saying that daycare will take your money faster than Target at Christmas time. According to research conducted by Child Care Aware of America in 2020 (which is yesterday in normal human years)- the average cost of full-time care was $9,539 yearly and nearly $800 monthly (gasp) for infants in a center-based program. Now that we know what we are dealing with let us all gather our strength and move further.

Infant vs Toddler

Infants are cute but boy oh boy do they come with extra expenses such as diapers, formula, sterilizers - you name it! Depending on where you live, infant care is often more expensive than toddler care because infants need more attention from staff members or require lower ratios between caretakers and babies (you feel me?). So prepare yourself- you might be looking at spending about $250-$370 weekly for infant care compared to around $200-$315 weekly for toddlers aged 18 months - preschool age.

Fun Fact Alert!

Guess what is even worse than infant-daycare prices? Nanny-care prices(double gasp)!!! Having someone provide child-care from home can sometimes cost twice as much as sending little Kaden off to a facility filled with other screaming children(woohoo cheers) From my devious calculations- nanny-care turns out up costing about freaking $28 per hour (or over) daily while typical daycare price ranges from only $10 to $20 hourly.

Options Galore

Now listen here closely cause I'm going to share with you some lifesaving tips on how not to go bankrupt just because your child existed. If the cost of daycare is too high(COLA) consider these less expensive options in order of who may take you more seriously:

Grandparents

Love them or hate 'em but they will always be down for free childcare (or at least a great discount). Plus, it's quality bonding time for Granny and little Johnnie.

In-Home Daycare

This option involves sending children to the caretaker’s own private residence instead of a commercial daycare center.It provides socialization opportunities between age-mates and allows constant supervision by one-carer which results in attention focus that could provide personal nurturing.

Liability Waivers are Love!

For those brave hearts thinking “why pay anyone? I'll look after my child.” Well.... LIABILITY! Enter liability waivers: some home daycares providers might offer significantly reduced rates if only parents could sign waiver agreements absolving against injuries incurred during their watch over.

There are various websites like Care.com, Sittercity where parents can search caregivers profiles online. These sites enable clients filter-screen candidates based upon location preferences, qualifications as well criminal background checks reviews from past families using nanny-care services.

Time is Money

Apart from figuring out which care type meets your budgetary requirements be wary also regarding timing and schedules since costs differ depending on program duration length (Uh oh!) Childcare fees tend by being higher when spanning longer hour-days (>10hrs) interesting enough when part-time priced hovers mostly around $100/week while full-time pricing essentially doubles that price point.

Now that we wetted our feet about daycare costs let me break it down for us in ways to make our wallet happy, also check the Department of Health and Social Services networks if there are any subsidies or tax credits available (Welfare is not bad okay- do what you have to do). Keep your heads up parents because the most valuable investment is your little tyke’s growth even when they had surpassed mortality probability rates thereby raising expenses with their new bionic limbs(Yep - this happens. I am sure of it -wink)