The cost of ChildCare

i agree....my childcare used to be 640/month - i was sooo glad when my 4 year old was able to go to preschool. while I would love for her to have continued interaction w/ her friends at the daycare via afterschool care, i can not afford so she stays at school w/ her father (who thankfully is a teacher there) in his class.....

the daycare, however, is really good...how good would it be if it had to rely on gov't funding?

onyxelle,

thank you first of all for your reply.

yours was 640 a month....imagine if you added one more child to the mix!
I have three. Childcare, if I used the services, would run me $350 a WEEK !!!! Thats $1400 a month !!!!!!
I dont believe that price reflects quality when it comes to childcare either.

If daycare was funded by the government I would have peace of mind knowing that employees of the daycare facility would be alcohol and drug free, would have schooling in childcare development, and would ultimately be receiving benefits such as 401k and medical insurance. With this in mind I am confident that government controlled daycares would be much less expensive and appealing to my bank account and, that the care offered would be exceptional.

My point is that you shouldn't have to work for a Master's to afford childcare. How has childcare expenses INTERRUPTED your financial standing? Because I have 3 children it has effected my life tremendously. Not to mention the amount of sacrafices I have had to make. Whats your come back on this?

The first day cares in Germany started earlier than 1840 (that's the date, when Fröbel called his first one 'Kindergarten'). Since 1871 they are state funded (run by churches, private organisations, firms, factories and towns).

You pay between about 50 and 120 $ per child, regarding your income and how many children you send. (For over 3 year old toddlers there are 100% places, for younger ones between 80 and 90% in Western German states and 100% in the Eastern states.)

There are a very few privat day cares - I doubt that are really better, however, they are more luxuary, very expensive and thus only for the upper 10,000.

good points, both of you walter and calgon.

walter....I wish for once America was more like Germany....
Thanks for your reply......do you have kids?

Actually, this is not German related - it's more like the Britanbnica encyclopedia writes: " Day-care is common in all developed countries ... ... Services to young children and their families, however, have a much longer history in European and Asian countries than in the United States, where day-care centres are generally private and of varying quality."

No, I don't have children.

I am blessed my mom and dad retired young and care for my two daughters. When we decided to put my older daughter in Pre-K a couple of days a week, I search every where and thoroughly for a proper daycare. I only found two that I felt comfortable with. She is now in Pre-K two days a week and it costs me $531 a month. If she were in all five days it would be over $800, which we plan for next year since public Kindergarten is only for a few hours a day. Honestly if I did not have my parents, I do not know what we would have done. I would probably have only one child and may have had to put her in a daycare center I would prefer not to - one not as clean or with teachers that turnover more frequently or one that does not have as good a program. By the way I do have a Masters Degree and a pretty good paying job and it is difficult for me to afford.