If you feel like your paycheck is never as big as your expenses, you are definitely not alone. Millions of families are struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living rises but salaries do not. Parents with young kids often feel stretched particularly thin because of the astronomical costs associated with child care in the United States. It leaves many people feeling emotionally and financially broken.
If parents can’t afford child care but can’t afford not to work either, what the heck are they supposed to do? Many parents are getting creative. They are maxing out daily to ensure they make as much money as possible while caring for their kids. At some point, something’s got to give. A mom shared her personal story with Business Insider, and it’s an extremely eye-opening look at what a lot of parents face each day.
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She’s balancing it all to make ends meet.
Victoria Marin explained that as a freelancer, her work is flexible but no less grueling. She often gets up at 4 a.m. to get a couple of solid hours in before her 3-year-old daughter is up for the day. The child is only in day care part time because the cost is astronomical, and although she and her partner both work, they still can’t afford full-time care.
“I can usually get in a couple of hours of paid work before my daughter wakes up. Then my attention shifts. On the days she goes to day care, I have six hours to get things — including housework and basic self-care — done before I have to go pick her up," she wrote. "On the days she doesn’t go to day care, I’m her primary caretaker, so I don’t get much done.”
Her daughter often skips naps, which means even less time for paid work during the day.
If she can’t work while her daughter is awake, Marin has to wait until her little girl sleeps. So she starts working again after 9 p.m. and works until midnight. With a 4 a.m. alarm, that’s only four hours on a good day, so she is emotionally and physically exhausted.
There is no way out right now.
Although her daughter’s day care offers a sliding scale, it would still cost the family $31,000 annually in tuition, taking away nearly 25% of their total income. That’s why part-time care is the only solution for the family, and they pay $1,250 per month.
Marin explained, “Factoring in already high housing costs, relentlessly rising food prices, and unpredictable and unwieldy healthcare costs, we decided it made the most sense to minimize expenses where we could by enrolling in part-time childcare.”
In addition to hectic work schedules, the family also has debt.
Freelance work doesn’t come with a set schedule, which many people like, but it also doesn’t always come with steady income, which is a big drawback for a lot of folks. For Marin, that means she and her partner have accumulated debt that feels like an ever-growing hole.
She explained, “We are in mountains of debt, and we’ve often had to make hard choices about which bills to pay and which to delay, ultimately prioritizing food and childcare.” It all leaves her feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.
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How are people supposed to do it?
It’s a vicious cycle. Although Marin and millions like her rely on child care, it’s become so expensive it’s crippling. Marin agrees with fair pay for employees and is passionate about finding a better way.
“The school we selected does provide livable wages to their staff. But should it come at the expense of attending families’ own financial stability? I believe childcare should be affordable and childcare workers should have livable wages, and the solution might be subsidies. This is common practice in many parts of the world,” she wrote.
