What You Can Expect From Daycare Rates
Parents entering the workforce after having a child have a lot of things to consider and one of the main concerns is cost of daycare for their child. If the parent going back to work is not going to make enough to cover daycare rates, and it is a two income household, then the couple may decide to not pay the daycare rates and just keep the parent and the child at home while the other parent brings in an income.
In that case the home bound parent usually tries to find a job they can do from home to supplement their income. But many parents put their children in daycare and it should be noted right off the top that daycare rates are not cheap no matter where you are and if you are deciding to put your child into daycare then you may want to consider the daycare rates first.
Usually daycare rates vary based on the child's age and where you live. Many daycare centers will also offer extra activities for extra charge and some even offer evening rates which will usually be higher. Children with special needs will cost more and very young babies and infants cost the most. As the child gets older the daycare rates usually drop.
Doing a little research you will see that daycare rates throughout the country, for a baby or small infant with no special needs, can range from $185 per week up to $640 per week per child. As you can see child care in this day and age is expensive and yes those rates are per week and not per month. It makes you wonder how couple can afford over $2,400 per month just in daycare rates alone. The costs are astonishingly high.
The Rates Do Go Down
On average the rates will drop by about 10 per cent every two years the child gets older. What used to cost $185 per week as an infant will cost $150 per week when the child is 4 or 5 years old. As the children reach school age the daycare rates drop because the assumption is that the child will be in school for part of the day and the daycare center will not have the child all day long anymore.
It is tough being a parent and working these days and the prices they charge at daycare centers do not help. Luckily a portion of what you pay for daycare is tax deductible but that really doesn't help when you are putting a large portion of that second family income into daycare services.
