Mass. Tops Daycare Costs List: What Do You Pay in Somerville?
Massachusetts has the highest daycare costs for infants and children up to age 4 in the United States, according to a study by Child Care Aware of America.
Massachusetts has the highest daycare costs for infants and children up to age 4 in the United States, according to a study by Child Care Aware of America.
Bay State residents pay an average $14,980 per year, according to the study, and as percentage of state median income for a two-parent family, Massachusetts ranks as the ninth most expensive state in the country at 14.2 percent. New York tops the list at 15.9 percent and has the second highest costs at $14,009.
Putting that percentage in context, the study says that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommends that parents spend no more than 10 percent of their family income on child care.
If you're a single mom in Massachusetts, it's even worse, with child care costs taking up 53.6 percent of the median income of a single-mother family.
What do you pay in Somerville for child care? What cost trends have you seen in recent years? Tell us in the comments below.
Matt Conley
4:09 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
We are expecting our first this Fall. It's looking like it will be $2200-$2500/month for fulltime infant daycare.
Daniel DeMaina
5:02 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
Wowsers, Matt.
Matt C
6:19 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
its kind of a scary fact that it is so expensive. If you do a breakdown for a single parent with one child in Somerville that parent needs to make over 50k/yr to be able to afford to live and work in the city.
Rent - 1,673 (areavibes - http://www.areavibes.com/somerville-ma/housing/)
Food - 187x2=374 (USDA - http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-expenditures.aspx)
Child Care - 1249 (patch)
MBTA pass - 70 (mbta.com)
Total = $3,366/m = $40,329 after tax ~ $52,000/yr before taxes/
I know that this calculation is not perfect, but it gives you a good idea of the hurdles faced by someone trying to raise a child on their own without any kind of assistance from family, church or the state.