An article in Wednesday's Sun tells of how many families are cutting back on day care or removing their children from the facilities entirely because of the economy. Presumably they are either trying to save money or have lost their jobs and therefore are able to take care of the children at home.
How are you adjusting your child care spending in the economic downturn? Have you reduced or eliminated daycare? Have you found other ways to take care of your kids, like having a relative watch them?
Daycare was too expensive to begin with anyway. Now with summer out $400 a week for 2 school age children.
Have I reduced or eliminated daycare?
Yes, 100% eliminated.
The kids stay home. This is the second summer. If daycare was cheaper I would have never known that they actually are dependable and can follow our rules. At first I started giving small monetary incentives for cleaning and not fighting during the day. (A whole lot less than $400)
You eventually phase that out. We just can and do more activities this year. Their equipped with cell phones. Can't leave the house and have a schedule to follow. And what tops it all - they hated camp anyway (they would cancel trips or keep them out in the heat all day)
For us parents -12 weeks at $400 a pop. $4800 more money in the pocket. We're taking a nice vacation, that we wouldn't have been able to take and still have $3000 to save or pay bills with.
So, works for me. It definitely depends on the age and maturity of your children though!
I forgot to mention. We have family members available two days a week to watch them. I don't hold my breath depending on it though.
Day care has always been expensvie. It was the same in 1980 when we had our first. We lived within our means. We did not have what many did but we always had one of us at home. One worked full time, the other worked part-time to ensure one of us was always home. School schedules gave us flexibility until holidays and summer vacation. At times, family members did assist us. The cost now is really nothing new. Many cannot rely on family to take care of children. We look to the State for assistance. This is why we favor government funded pre-school for our children. It can be called early-learning rather than day care. It is a more intelligent useage of words. We can put abuses at privately run day care centers to an end because the government program will squash them with competetion like ants. We can create special infrastructure like SD203 is doing on Naper Blvd. Then we will have more money as citizens to spend on consumer goods. The government should pay for our children as one day they will be the future taxpayers. And, we can shape and mold the children to be good citizens and good servants of the State when they are older. It is a perfect solution to the problem. Who wants liberty when you can have government provided security?
The building D203 is constructing on Naper Blvd. will be one facility for Early Childhood Development. As of right now, EC (as it is called) is in other existing elementary schools until the new building opens in the fall of 2010, which will house all. EC is for special needs children only and not all children. Children that do not meet the criteria, which would be autism or other, would have to attend day care/private pre-school until they are of age to be in kindergarten in the disctict.
ANON: thanks for the clarification. Half way through I got a little off the rocker. However I am concerned of course that people will advocate government day care and that is of some concern.
What happened to Blagojevich's proposal to open pre-school to almost all families. The last I heard was about in 2004 he spent $30 million for about 8,000 kids. Is it still going on?
Hello to all,
I am a child care provider and I would like to remind you all that child care teachers and providers are not the richest people in the world. We actually earn less then minimum wage to care for your children, after you factor in the amount of time we work. Most of us do it as a passion, and it is selfish, unapreciative people like you all that run people from this career.
Isn't about time we stop asking the goverment for handouts and take responsibity for the children we gave birth to? It is your responsabilty to raise and pay for your childs basic needs.