Polls

How Much Do You Pay For Daycare? A Poll

I have two children. My daughter is in fist grade. My son is three years old and he goes to daycare five days a week.  His daycare provider is a really, really nice lady from our community. She also keeps five other kids. Her daycare is located in her home, which has a fenced in back yard and lots of room for the kids to play. When he turns four, she’ll begin “school work” for a couple of hours a day. Our daughter went to the same daycare, and she was reading well before her fifth birthday. We love our daycare provider, and we feel good about leaving our son with her.

I’d be interested in finding out how much you pay, per child, per week for daycare. Here’s a quick poll. If you pay once a month, just estimate your weekly amount. Feel free to comment!

Edit:  Do to SEVERAL email, I’ve changed the options.  Apparently, in other parts of the country, daycare is very, very expensive!!!  Please vote again!

Edit: It’s now September of 2009.  My son is now in school – but our baby daughter is with the same provider.

n

n

{democracy:3}

17 thoughts on “How Much Do You Pay For Daycare? A Poll

  1. HOLY COW! $75?! We pay $230/week in a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C., and were LUCKY to find the woman. Others are $250 and up. $300/week is not uncommon. This is for an infant, though, who is more costly. Once she turns 2, it will go down to about $180/week at the same place. We could then probably also find a cheaper place, but since she is very happy there, and we are so happy with this woman in our neighborhood, who watches 7 other kids(!), we will probably be reluctant to change. We have to budget $1,000/month for day care. It’s really put us on hold financially. Your survey didn’t even come close with $150+. The $5,000 FSA max is a joke for us. It saves some $, but not nearly enough. Thanks for the question!

  2. Also in Maryland, $2200 a month for 2 children, ages 4 and 18 months…that includes a 10% discount for the second child. This is a day care center rather than a home daycare. Here’s looking forward to public schooling (at least from a financial perspective).

  3. I’m with the other comments. Living in Northern VA, we pay $442 a week for two kids, also 10% discount for the second child. We are spending $24,000 a year right now on day care. I can’t wait till the older one starts kindergarden this year. It will be like taking a second job. 😉

  4. We pay 233 a week for a 1 year old and 3 year old. This is with the 10% discount on the second child. We live in Knoxville, TN. The good/bad news is number three will be here in July and our monthly daycare bill will go up to $1,600. This is $500 more than our mortgage!!

  5. I have worked as a nanny in New York City and now have a 1 year old and another on the way. Going rate for nannies in NYC is $10-$12 /hr and for fulltime working moms that’s 50 hrs a week so $500-$600 a week for a personal nanny which a lot of people do here. Daycares varry from neighborhood to neighborhood– anywhere from $200-$400 a week for one child. I’ve chosen to stay at home with my kids. Although I have worked in a professional envirnoment and have my college degree— it’s not worth spending 60-80% of my salary so someone else can take care of my child.

  6. Wow… when I lived in NYC I was paying $15 an hour for one kid. I interviewed some nanny’s that wanted up to $18 an hr because they were so experienced. The suburbs are much cheaper.

  7. Wow, $75 a week is a bargain! I looked into it here in NY and it would cost me, with 3 kids age 3 1/2 and 18 month twins, a little less than $600 a week for a daycare center and $450 a week in a private home. I was making in the high 30’s before kids so there is NO way I would break even. I now work 9 hours a week and my husband watches them, so I make $100 a week now. It helps, trust me- I like tog et out of the house for a bit and my DH gets some quality time.

    We are moving south (to SC)soon to be with family that are willing to help out, because even getting a babysitter for a night breaks the budget.

  8. I have two children (kindergarten & 2nd grade) who attend the afterschool program run by the YMCA in the elementary school. Homework, crafts or playground time, snack & time in the library or computer lab. Not bad for $59 per week, per child, especially in Atlanta. I pick them up at 4:30 every day, but the program runs to 6pm. (Knowing that means less stress when I’m stuck in traffic.)

  9. We pay 78.50$ per day for our almost 2-years-old son. That’s a daycare, not a private nanny. We live in the Bay Area, and it’s very expensive down here..

  10. hi, in Anchorage Ak in the day care centers it’s about 750/month for 1 infant, it goes down as the child gets older in a home day care it’s about 550 /month for an infant .
    greetings!

  11. I pay $280 per week for my twin 3 year old sons to be in daycare full-time(7am-5pm). Its a decent rate around these parts…but my problem is that our daycare requires us to pay in full even if our kids are home sick for the entire week. Its crazy to have to pay even though they werent in daycare. The lady says that the pay holds the boys spot in her daycare. Anyway…im removing them from her daycare asap…there are too many other problems we’ve had with her to list here.

  12. I have 3-1/2 year old twin boys and we pay 320 per week for daycare. Its really strapped us because i basically give up one paycheck a month to pay this. She makes us pay the full price even when my kids are home all week sick which is RIDICULOUS! So far, the boys have been in 3 daycares and they all did this! This latest daycare is pretty good, she takes good care of the boys and gets them involved in lots of activities. I just dont agree with the paying full bore when they are home sick. Currently im thinking of ways to maybe go on part-time work so that we can save some money. I also dont agree with the daycares taking all the holidays that the schools do…not EVERYONE gets Good friday and Martin Luther King day off as well as the multitude of holidays besides those. Sorry to rant….sore subject. 😀

  13. @Nova.. The reason you have to pay is that your kids take up a ‘spot’ on her active roster, whether they are there or not… and, we all deserve a holiday or two… Heck, we pay our daycare provider all year long, even though my wife is home for 2 months in the summer.. that’s how valuable she is to us…

  14. Well, I’m seriously lucky. I have one woman, a part time teacher, who watches my 6 month old for 30 dollars a day and my 2 year old for 20 dollars a day 3 days a week.I then know a stay at home mom who watches my 6 month old for 45 dollars a day twice a week and also takes my 2 year old to preschool. I know her from church. The church has a program for the 2 year old and that is 28 dollars a day twice a week
    So, to recap it’s 180 for the infant and 96 for the toddler. (Grandma takes her on Fridays)

    -Chris

Comments are closed.