A mother of four has revealed she was forced to spend $5,000 a month on childcare last year because she wanted to stay working.
Paige Turner, 33, who lives in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, said the payments – which totaled $60,000 this year – are worth twice as much as what she pays on her mortgage.
And she is anything but alone. According to the charity The Annie E. Casey Foundation, the average annual cost of caring for young children in centers in Massachusetts is $19,961.
While the state is one of the most expensive places to raise children, increased demand and labor shortages are causing prices to skyrocket across the country – with child care being by far the biggest expense for millions of parents.
A study earlier this year by consumer banking firm NetCredit found that child care is now more expensive than public college tuition in 28 states.
Paige’s two oldest children, ages six and five, now attend the public school system.
The six-year-old has moved to first grade, and the five-year-old has moved from preschool child care, which cost $1,300 a month last year, to kindergarten.
Although this means the family’s child care expenses have decreased, Paige still predicts the total cost this year will be about $50,000.
Paige is an operations manager for a retail start-up while her husband works as a utility linesman. He is an essential worker and is often called out for storm duty – while she can work from home.
Both earn the same amount a year – around $150,000.
“People assume that because I’m a woman I should take care of the children,” she said. “People also assume that I make less money than my husband and have less earning potential than him – and therefore I should be the one who stays at home.”
“My husband and I earn exactly the same amount, and I may earn more than him this year.” “My job offers more earning potential than my husband’s in some ways, so I want to stay in the workforce.”
Paige added that she often rejects this question because she loves working – and has worked hard for a long time to get to where she is in her career.
“Leaving the workforce, even for a short period of time, has a huge impact on a woman’s career and earning potential,” she said.
She is currently struggling to find daycare for her youngest child, who is 18 months old, because facilities in the local community are simply too full.
“We have an au pair who is looking after our youngest child because she can’t come to daycare.” “She’s on a waiting list because it’s so full,” she told .
“I tried to take her in almost a year ago when she was about six months old. They told me she couldn’t come in until April 2024 – almost a year and a half later.
“If you are not on the waiting list the moment you find out you are pregnant, your child will not have a place in daycare.”
To make matters worse, in some centers parents are forced to pay a fee to be placed on the waiting list.
“It depends on the center, but I paid $200 to be on a waiting list. “So if you’re on multiple waiting lists, you pay a lot of money,” she said.
The family pays about $2,000 a month for the au pair to care for the youngest and after-school care for the eldest, and up to $1,500 for full-day preschool for their toddler, who turns three in a few weeks becomes.
In Massachusetts, Paige said, families pay a placement fee of between $8,000 and $10,000 for an au pair — and then an hourly rate.
Paige estimates that the total cost of child care this year, along with additional living expenses, including food and car insurance for her au pair, will reach $50,000.
Paige said she often faces the question of whether she will quit her job to reduce some of these fees.
Paige said she was unable to find daycare space for her youngest child, who is 18 months old, because facilities in her local community were simply too full
Millions of Americans – especially women – struggle with the financial burden of childcare.
According to census data, around 4.5 million people remained unemployed in January this year because they were caring for children who were not in school or daycare.
In the first month of this year, 217,000 fewer women were employed than in February 2020.
Experts warn the crisis could get worse – after the government pulled the plug on pandemic aid late last month.
The Century Foundation (TCF) estimated in September that up to 70,000 child care programs were at risk of closure, pushing the already strained sector to the brink.
In March 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, which includes $24 billion to support child care centers.
Many used the money to boost employees’ wages to discourage them from seeking better-paying jobs – and it is believed to have helped more than 200,000 providers stay afloat during the pandemic.
Pictured mother of three and licensed attorney Crystal Gamache couldn’t find a place to take her children part-time in Spokane, Washington
But researchers at TCF said the deadline represents a “chasm” that would leave 3.2 million children with no place to go while their parents work.
Julie Kashen, TCF Director of Women’s Economic Justice, said: “As child care programs are forced to raise prices to retain staff, parents are either having to pay even more for child care, reduce hours, or be forced to quit their jobs entirely to give up.”
“We know the responsibility lies primarily with women and will impact not only their lifetime earnings and retirement security, but also their families’ bottom lines.”
Crystal Gamache, a mother of three and licensed attorney, told last month that she couldn’t find a place to take her children while looking for part-time care in Spokane, Washington.
The 34-year-old said she had relied on the help of babysitters in the past but ended up paying for the work because her childcare costs were more than her wages.
She told : “Women who train to be doctors or lawyers often meet their husbands while studying and then end up in the same high tax brackets.”
“It means these women can afford not to work and lose their jobs. “But we are losing our most brilliant workers this way.”