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Why Child Care Is So Expensive

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Re: Why Child Care Is So Expensive

#351

Post by vkou »

xsmasher wrote: post #306
Dove wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am convinced the isolated stay at home parent model is not normal human behavior, but a pathology of our particular society which represents an unreasonable expectation derived from an excessive commitment to individualism and independence. It is not psychologically reasonable to expect one person to care for children all day every day. It is not historically or broadly culturally normal. It is not healthy for eith…

It may be a side effect of suburbanization and the mass migration to single-family homes.

While we can blame the suburbs on a lot of social problems, this is not one of them.

Families who raise their children in cities have all the same problems.

Re: Why Child Care Is So Expensive

#352

Post by kelnos »

glofish wrote: post #130
balfirevic wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am not going to say that I am much better off for not having a dog. But why not? It doesn't diminish dogs or other people who have dogs in any way, it just means that for you personally disadvantages outweigh advantages. So not having a dog will, on balance, make you... well, better-off.

Because as I pointed out it is already implied and serves no other purpose just antagonize and rub it into someone's face. As a matter of fact it is not even clear that I am better off, I may just think I am, mistakenly. So why reiterate. Finally, the traits that keep me from having a dog are not necessarily virtues, most likely not traits that make a better person.

Anyone who suggests that your reasons/traits for not wanting a dog (or children) makes you a worse person needs to shut up and mind their own selves, which are likely filled with a lot of negative traits as well.

Re: Why Child Care Is So Expensive

#353

Post by bradlys »

Dove wrote: post #296
abbadadda wrote: post #243

A lot of really good discussion in this article. I just wanted to add a couple of things: It is a true blessing if a mother or father can stay at home to raise their children. However, over time being a stay at home parent is incredibly isolating. Men are suseptible to depression, but women especially so post-partum. Also, many parents do eventually want to work either part time or full time. The longer one stays out…

I am convinced the isolated stay at home parent model is not normal human behavior, but a pathology of our particular society which represents an unreasonable expectation derived from an excessive commitment to individualism and independence. It is not psychologically reasonable to expect one person to care for children all day every day. It is not historically or broadly culturally normal. It is not healthy for eith…

It's definitely weird when you think about it. It seems like a relatively new model.

That said - what are you going to do about it? Our major cities and culture are not setup for addressing these issues at all. We have a hard enough time trying to pass anything through congress. Trying to get some huge child care bill through is nigh on impossible. On top of that - it will, of course, not do anything for people who live in the more expensive regions of the USA because paying for child care is expensive - sure - but the price of housing those children can be just as expensive if not more.

Re: Why Child Care Is So Expensive

#354

Post by ip26 »

giggles_giggles wrote: post #343
Dove wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am convinced the isolated stay at home parent model is not normal human behavior, but a pathology of our particular society which represents an unreasonable expectation derived from an excessive commitment to individualism and independence. It is not psychologically reasonable to expect one person to care for children all day every day. It is not historically or broadly culturally normal. It is not healthy for eith…

This is a weird comment that, in my experience, doesn't represent the reality of today's stay-at-home parents. I'd love to see hard data on this, but let me share my anecdotes in response to the middle paragraph here. My older sister has been a stay at home mother for almost a decade, so I'll share my observations from being an uncle: > It is normal for children to be cared for by many adults throughout the day, from…

How does one find these stay-at-home communities? By gods, we've tried for years.

Re: Why Child Care Is So Expensive

#355

Post by virmundi »

Why not look at the macro issues here? The environment is overtaxed. The future is doomed anyway. Why not return to the Roman system where the father has the right to kill the child up until a certain age? Incentives this with a cash payment for every child put down coupled with a requirement to be sterilized for five years. Say a one time payment of $10k per child and a tax deduction of $2k per year of the five years sterile. You can solve global warming, cost of child take, and student debt.

Re: Why Child Care Is So Expensive

#357

Post by secabeen »

anon4lol wrote: post #282
snarf21 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly right. People also forget that while the parent works 8 hours a day, the kid is dropped off before and after commute time which means the kid may be in daycare for 9 or 10 hours. So if you get infant care at $175/week for four infants divided by 50 hours, you get $14/hour and that is gross revenue to the business. If you happen to lose an infant to a parental move, now you are losing money for that class. You…

We just went through the process of finding childcare for our infant. Originally, we were going to have my wife's parents move in to help, but her father was suddenly diagnosed with lung cancer, forcing us to scramble for child care. With my wife's student loans, it wouldn't be prudent for her to not work. Childcare costs more than twice as much as our mortgage. We live in a blue state where many businesses feel comp…

The idea of paying minimum wage to a child care provider also seems wrong too. Your child is spending more time with this person each week than they are with you. I'd think you'd want to pay more than minimum wage, to get quality caregivers.

Re: Why Child Care Is So Expensive

#358

Post by mjh2539 »

bradlys wrote: post #353
Dove wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am convinced the isolated stay at home parent model is not normal human behavior, but a pathology of our particular society which represents an unreasonable expectation derived from an excessive commitment to individualism and independence. It is not psychologically reasonable to expect one person to care for children all day every day. It is not historically or broadly culturally normal. It is not healthy for eith…

It's definitely weird when you think about it. It seems like a relatively new model. That said - what are you going to do about it? Our major cities and culture are not setup for addressing these issues at all. We have a hard enough time trying to pass anything through congress. Trying to get some huge child care bill through is nigh on impossible. On top of that - it will, of course, not do anything for people who l…

> What are you going to do about it?

Have lots of kids and encourage them not to move so that there is a large support structure in place foe their children and their children's children.

Re: Why Child Care Is So Expensive

#359

Post by buboard »

kelnos wrote: post #350
buboard wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That being said I would recommend toning down the rhetoric of how much better you're off for not having kids We could also entertain the reverse: that too much emphasis and pressure is being put on someone being a parent. There is a very widespread self-congratulatory element to being a parent (to the point that many people list it as a job title). But having children is something that people have been doing quite…

I'd like to chime in and agree with this, but perhaps with a bit of a different twist. There are tons of reasons why people are pressured into having kids, and very few people reminding others that having children is a choice, not to mention a huge responsibility. I think we'd have a much happier, safer world if the only people who had kids were those who truly wanted them. Parental, spousal, and peer pressure to hav…

> is a choice, not to mention a huge responsibility.

Actually, i think these two are inversely correlated. The demands from parents have become crazy for no apparent benefit. It's illegal to raise kids as they did 2 generations ago. It would become more of a choice if people at large relaxed a bit and let kids be kids or learn by themselves, or in tiny neighborhood groups.

Re: Why Child Care Is So Expensive

#360

Post by ip26 »

klipt wrote: post #197
darawk wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're missing the point of the "childcare is not part of the workforce" argument. It's not that it isn't work, and it's not that it isn't important. It's that, in many cases, the economic comparative advantage for the (often) female caretaker of those children is not being fully utilized. That is to say, caring for a child is a service that costs X. But it is being performed by a person who's skills are valu…

Why is subsidized daycare necessary in these cases though? In America if daycare costs X and you earn Y much greater than X, then obviously you'll make more money going to work and sending your kid to daycare than being a stay at home parent. The people who choose to stay at home often either have multiple kids (higher X) or earn little enough (lower Y) that it's not an economic advantage for them to work. But those…

Taxes are one reason. You have to earn Y where Y >= X * 125% (vaguely speaking) just to break even.

If your first thought is something like, maybe we shouldn't tax X spent on daycare- well, that's a subsidy.

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