Congratulations! You just got a big bonus. Get ready to share it with your new baby. New parents can expect to pay between $9,600 and $31,200 a year in childcare costs. Here, Precedent weighs your options.
The Live-Out Nanny
Cost per month: $2,000-$2,600
Cost per year: $24,000-$31,200
Hours: Times are negotiable. Average 45-50 hours per week. Overtime pay after 44 hours.
Joy: Light housework negotiable. Lives somewhere else.
Pain: The priciest option.
The Live-In Nanny
Cost per month: $1,200-$1,800*
Cost per year: $14,400-$21,600*
Hours: Times are negotiable. Average 45-50 hours per week. Overtime pay after 44 hours.
Joy: No pick-up or drop-off — ever. Light housework negotiable.
Pain: Lives in your house.
Daycare
Cost per month (infants): $1,575-$1,695
Cost per month (toddlers to preschool): $1,050-$1,495
Cost per year (infants): $18,900-$20,340
Cost per year (toddlers to preschool): $12,600-$17,940
Hours: 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. or 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Joy: Other kids to play with.
Pain: Other kids to catch colds from. Get on five to six waiting lists immediately after conception and maybe you’ll get a spot. Late charges $1 per minute.
The Au Pair
Cost per month: $800-$1,200*
Cost per year: $9,600-$14,400*
Hours: 40-45 per week
Joy: May speak a foreign language. Young and full of energy.
Pain: Immigration bureaucracy.
* = take home after room and board