Updated: August 2, 2016
Originally Published: May 12, 2016
“Better Start Saving Now,” a new public service announcement, sheds light on the astonishingly high cost of childcare in the U.S. In many areas, it’s now pricier to enroll a 4-year-old in preschool than it is to send an adult to college. Seriously, how did we get here?
Parents used to spend years budgeting for college tuition, but now many are financially drained even before their little ones reach public school. The old saying, “Don’t have kids you can’t afford,” is starting to sound more absurd with each passing year. How are parents supposed to prepare for such overwhelming expenses?
This PSA cleverly features adorable kids to deliver a serious message: childcare costs are outrageous. “The average annual cost for childcare is around $11,000 per child,” explains a pint-sized financial advisor to his tiny client. “If you start saving now, in about 20 years, you might be able to afford your kids’ childcare. Well, sort of.”
“I’m going to be honest. You’re gonna be barely scraping by.”
Like many families, we’re doing our best to manage. My child attends part-time preschool since that’s all we can swing financially. It costs us $400 a month for him to go four days a week for just three hours each day. If we opted for full-time care, we’d be shelling out $900 a month. Our three-year-old is in daycare two days a week, which adds another $450 to our monthly bill. To have full-time daycare and preschool for both kids, we’d need to cough up a staggering $1,950 a month—more than our rent!
So, with part-time preschool for one child and part-time daycare for the other, we’re looking at over $10,000 annually. Thankfully, one child will be starting kindergarten next year, which will allow us to afford another day of daycare for the other. However, we’re still hesitant to push for more days because we’re tired of living paycheck to paycheck.
This PSA comes from Make It Work, an organization advocating for common-sense workplace policies. Their mission is clear: it’s 2016, and hard-working individuals deserve more than just a decent living—they deserve a decent life.
You can make a difference, too, by taking their pledge:
“From today forward, I will only vote for candidates who support solutions that help us ‘make it work,’ including equal pay, living wages, paid sick leave, and affordable childcare and elder care for families in need.”
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In summary, the cost of childcare continues to escalate, making it increasingly challenging for families to manage their finances. The message of this PSA is clear: we must advocate for better policies to support working parents and make childcare more affordable for everyone.