Childcare Costs

The cluster discusses the extremely high costs of childcare and daycare, especially in major cities like NYC and the Bay Area, comparing them to family incomes and debating options like subsidies, one parent staying home, or universal care.

➡️ Stable 0.5x Politics & Society
2,116
Comments
19
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5
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#817
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Keywords

US OP www.care KAAS COL NYC childcare daycare kids child kid cost children care subsidy parent

Sample Comments

Cd00d Nov 15, 2021 View on HN

I think parent asked for subsidy, not total compensation of expenses.I have two kids, 2.5 years apart, and there was one year in NYC where a small family daycare was running us ~$5k per month in childcare. We'd been aiming for the kids to be a bit further apart, partly for financial reasons, but shrug, it didn't happen that way (first kid took a lot longer of trying than the second). We're fortunate in that we can afford that, but it did impact our long-term savings and eventua

rtkwe Jul 24, 2021 View on HN

Seems like that should only be the case if the cost of childcare is greater than the post tax wage of the lowest earning parent.

mejutoco Dec 15, 2022 View on HN

You might want to take a look at the cost of Kindergarten or similar care. People I know (in Germany though) made this calculation: to work and pay what I earn for Kindergarten or one of us does not work and takes care of the kids.

UncleOxidant Feb 23, 2023 View on HN

Don't forget the cost of childcare.

johnbellone Sep 9, 2025 View on HN

I support my tax dollars going to pay for universal child care. This is likely the second or third largest expense for young families. To be honest, I do not know how people can afford to have multiple children in daycare in any major metropolitan area.

lacker Apr 30, 2021 View on HN

Child care is thousands of dollars a month, everything else pales in comparison....

Balgair Dec 21, 2023 View on HN

Not OP but:Near me the cost of daycare is ~$500/wk, so ~$26k per year per kid. No discounts for multiple children.Median income in my area is ~$40k per year.There are a fair few state and local discounts for people near the poverty line, but things get complicated, as usual.Other aspects get rolled up into the financial costs of childcare, and they are not negligible at all, but daycare is typically the largest issue by far. As in, just solving daycare won't fix the issue.<

cachecrab Mar 3, 2023 View on HN

Childcare is a pretty large expense. Whether you have two working parents and use daycare, or one stay at home parent (single income instead of double), there's a significant cost associated with each.The average amount spent on a child per year is 17k [1]. It may not be that much if you're making $200k+/yr, but on the median household income of $71k/yr [2], it's a pretty significant chunk — about ~24% of your income for just one child.[1] <a href="https:/

ewindisch Dec 21, 2015 View on HN

Parents pay more than this per child today for daycare[1].[1] https://www.care.com/a/how-much-does-child-care-cost-1406091...

VoodooJuJu Dec 21, 2023 View on HN

Can you break down the aspects of childcare that are financially crushing?