“They’re really trying to figure it out,” she said. “Early childhood, the 0-to-2, 0-to-3 age, it’s more than a mortgage to send your child to day care.”

Some working parents turn to grandparents or nannies

The search for childcare can be overwhelming and complex, with high demand for few spots, and can be accompanied by intense sticker shock.

Infant care at a Philadelphia center costs on average more than 22% of the median family income. In the surrounding suburban counties, that number is around 13%. Across the region last year, parents typically paid $12,000 to $18,000 a year for center-based childcare for one infant, according to federal data. Costs tend to decrease as children get older.

“I knew day care was expensive, but I guess I didn’t put into perspective how much it would be,” said Carmen Luong, 29, of South Philadelphia. “It’s a whole mortgage payment or rent basically.”

Luong, who works in behavioral health, looked at more than a dozen facilities for her now-4-month-old and made a spreadsheet to track the weekly prices she was quoted. When her retired father heard how much day care cost, he offered to watch her son, a situation that has worked out well for the family.

For some, options that once were considered a luxury — such as a full-time nanny or live-in au pair — now seem affordable in comparison to the cost of day care. Others cobble together a patchwork of caregivers, including babysitters; go in on a “nanny share” with other families; or opt for home-based childcare, licensed or unlicensed, which can sometimes be less safe.

Day care “was pricing out very similar to the nanny we ended up going with,” said Rebecca Lane, 29, of Germantown, Pennsylvania, who had her first child in 2022.

They have since given their nanny a raise, but they still wouldn’t opt to put their daughter in day care. Lane said the flexibility that a nanny provides is key for her and her partner’s hybrid-work schedules.

Even if they had wanted to get their daughter into a childcare facility two years ago, the timeline wouldn’t have worked out with Lane’s maternity leave.

...continued

©2024 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Visit at inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.