[chacha102]

I agree - they are exercising the principle of opportunity cost. While most parents probably would make more than the $700 / month, the value might simply not be worth it.

I remember a study that concluded that in reality, there is a cap on how much additional money improves your day-to-day life. And if a family is already past that on one income, why do you need two?

[nonethewiser]

> $700 / month

That cant be right. I am in a LCOL area and its almost double that for 1 kid. And its one of the cheapest options.

It says the average is 700 per household. Perhaps it counts households without kids?

[Paul-Craft]

The exact number doesn't really matter. The point is that the difference between the cost of childcare and what a parent may make as a second earner has a significant opportunity cost that may not make working outside the home a good deal.

[PenguinCoder]

Has to; from my own anecdotal experience. More than double that in a LCOL area here as well.

[Waterluvian]

Can’t put a price on those years. They're just incredibly precious. I can’t imagine people send their kids off to daycare because they want to. It’s just such a loss you can’t ever get back.

[userinanother]

0-4 years kind of suck 5-10 though yeah those are gold

[ndriscoll]

My two year old is awesome and says/does new funny things every single day. She's been a hoot since maybe 1-1.5. I'm super lucky to get to spend all day with her right now while on leave for my 1 month old. Being able to pop out of my room and see her during the day is also one of the best perks of remote work. She's only recently started to notice/take interest in other kids, and the other day we went to the park and the playground was empty, and she goes "Where's my friends? FRIENDS!!!!! My friends are hiding." She's also decided our cats' names are mama meowy and dada meowy (they're both male).

The 1 month old is not so fun yet, granted.

[Paul-Craft]

Yeah, kids start to become significantly more fun once they can talk. Watching a child's personality emerge is probably one of the most rewarding parts of having kids.

[Waterluvian]

The countless hours of a little loaf of bread asleep on my tummy as I worked were some of the most priceless moments for me.

[userinanother]

Seattle is 2200-2500 for young kids. That’s post tax money so add 30%+ to account for that. 70k a year is what you would pay at a private equity run child care facility