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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHere are 9 reasons why America is a terrible place to raise kids
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1. The High Cost of Childcare
American families are facing a variety of rising costs in 2015, from food to housing. But one of the biggest expenses of all is turning out to be childcare. A 2014 report by Child Care Aware of America found that daycare could be as high as $14,508 per year for an infant and $12,280 per year for a four-year-old. And that is, in a sense, more troubling for new parents than the high cost of college tuition: while that expense is 17 or 18 years in the future, daycare is an expense working parents face right away.
2. Stagnant Wages Combined With Ever-Increasing Cost of Living
A 2014 report by the Center for American Progress offered little reason to be optimistic about family life in the U.S. The Center found that “investing in the basic pillars of middle-class security—child care, housing and healthcare, as well as setting aside modest savings for retirement and college—cost an alarming $10,600 more in 2012 than it did in 2000.” To make matters worse, the Center reported, incomes for most Americans remained stagnant during that 12-year period.
3. Public Education Is Struggling, and Private Schools Are Unaffordable
The economic meltdown of September 2008 has been bad news for American families on multiple levels. When families are struggling financially and have less money to spend, that harms a variety of businesses. And lower income also means less tax revenue, which harms public education because public education is funded with income taxes as well as sales and property taxes. In 2014, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported that at least 35 states had less funding per student than they did before the Great Recession—and 14 of those states had cut per-student funding by over 10%. Some parents will send their kids to private schools, but only if they can afford to: in 2014, the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) found that annual tuition for private high schools in the U.S. ranged from an average of $13,500 in the southern states to $29,000 in the western states to over $30,000 in the northeastern states.
THE REST:
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/05/here-are-9-reasons-why-america-is-a-terrible-place-to-raise-kids/
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fizzgig
(24,146 posts)we are not leaving a better world for them.
Person 2713
(3,263 posts)
MisterP
(23,730 posts)
Victor_c3
(3,557 posts)If poor people want to matter then they should get jobs being rich people. Then they all can find their own presidential candidate and get their own superpacs.
Victor_c3
(3,557 posts)That should be good for something.
Besides that, we have the American Dream!!
Anyone can be rich in America so long as they are willing to work hard enough. If you aren't rich you're just lazy and don't deserve things like a living wage, affordable healthcare, and decent public education.
America is a great place to raise kids - at least if you don't plan on raising lazy kids or being lazy yourself.
RiverNoord
(1,150 posts)exactly as defined by Kris Kristofferson in 'Me and Bobby McGee...'
taught_me_patience
(5,477 posts)You'll see daycare cost $1,500-$2,000/mo. It's one of the devastating negative impacts of $15/min wage that will be felt here in California. I'm so glad my kids are out of daycare now.
cali
(114,904 posts)taught_me_patience
(5,477 posts)Here's how the cost breaks down:
Teacher pay per hour $18/hr (can't have minimum wage worker here)
all in cost for teacher hour $21/hr (add 16% for SS, FICA, Unemployment, Worker's Comp, and SDI)
Minimum daycare center to charge to cover cost of teacher, insurance, rent, and expenditures $35/hr
4-1 teacher to infant ratio
Each infant would have to pay $8.50/hr to cover full costs
10 hours of care = $8.5*10=$85/day
20 days/month = $1,700
cali
(114,904 posts)Bunch of made up shit. Either link to evidence or get called on your right wing tropes.
taught_me_patience
(5,477 posts)4-1 teacher to infant ratio is mandated by law in California. $18/hr works out to $21/hr after all of the taxes and worker's comp is factored in.
Does it not make sense that a 50% increase in wages (here in California and 100% in some other parts of the country) in a business where labor is overwhelmingly the highest cost would mean a significant increase in prices? Get your head out of the sand.
cali
(114,904 posts)
pediatricmedic
(397 posts)Dependent on area, monthly childcare for an infant at a center is already between $1000 and $2000.
There are a lot of variables involved, such as area, age, number of hours, and type of daycare. The unregistered and unregulated in home people will always have the cheapest prices as well if you trust them or have no other choice.
The actual impact of a minimum wage increase on daycare costs are the unknown. My opinion is the costs would not increase much, maybe ten to twenty percent across the board. Median income for a daycare worker is currently $10.72 according to BLS.
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes399011.htm
philosslayer
(3,076 posts)Yet you respond with "a bunch of made up shit". I guess the facts that you don't agree with don't make you too happy. Perhaps you need a safe space where you can recover.
quakerboy
(13,923 posts)Bureau of labor statistics good enough for you? right now, California Childcare workers make over minimum. There's no reason to think that this wouldn't remain true even if they raise the minimum wage.
Rather than dismissing a valid projection of likely results, you might do better to point out that while childcare costs will rise, logically it should be by about 1/3. Possibly less given that the net profit of the owners doesn't actually have to go up at the same time as wages. And Its not like Childcare is free or even affordable now. So in what way does it really harm workers if their pay goes up by 33% or more and their childcare cost goes up by 33% or less? At worst, workers break even.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)We should do that here and get employers to pay extra taxes to pay for it. All employers should pay a tax to cover the pre-school of all children.
The excellent pre-schools in Europe are one of the reasons that they have lower crime rates and that their schools are better than ours.
We would as a nation win all around if we provided free pre-school for all of our children.
My children did extremely well in the US schools after the pre-school and first years of education in Europe. Free pre-school made all the difference.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)It's not like our Ryan-run Congress will ever have that issue come across their desks.
So we'll just keep on having our money-losing $7.25 an hour intact. Hey, maybe we could even lower it. That's great capitalism, lowering wages . . . right?
tymorial
(3,433 posts)It costs 20k a year where i live here in mass.
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)The employees at my kid's day care/pre school were all paid very well for the profession, and earned benefits. And guess what? They all stayed on and worked at the place for years and years? That experience makes the day go much better for the kids, leading to less need for support staff members. Also, remember that turnover/hiring is very expensive.
Mutant456
(9 posts)All you need to do is snazzy investing in care child otherswise
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)And beneath it all is our trade policy that has made our labor, our lives worth less and less.
whatthehey
(3,660 posts)The poverty-as-faultless-purity brigade on DU who think that nobody ever contributes to their own poor financial state will sputter and come up with rare what-ifs, but having children early and without secure incomes is extremely highly correlated with being in a terrible financial position, for exactly the same reasons this article brings up.
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)Having children has a tremendous impact on a person's financial security.
The decision should not be taken lightly or emotionally.
47of74
(18,470 posts)They did not want to raise their child in the US. Can't say that I blame them. I don't think I would want to either.
muntrv
(14,505 posts)to American workers.
tymorial
(3,433 posts)Our day care costs are about 6k more a year than in state college tuition. We are the second most expensive in the country with the average yearly rate for infants at 17,000. That number is far less than the average where I live which is about 18 to 22k depending on what facility you pick.
My wife and I just had a daughter and she is 2 months old. I am grateful that I have family support because we cannot afford anything around here. Most of the day care centers have been bought out by Bright Horizons and their rates are outrageous. Those few noncorporate facilities have long waiting lists because their rates are less (though still insane).
jmowreader
(50,572 posts)One of my nieces is a first-grade teacher in the Mukilteo, WA, school system. Her husband is a mechanical engineer at one of the airplane parts companies in town. When they decided to have a baby, they first called all the daycare places in town to ask about infant rates...and found out the cost of daycare for a child under one year old is $5000 more than her take-home pay as a teacher. So...she took a one-year leave of absence after the baby was born. If Jeffrey didn't make a lot of money in his job, there'd be no damn way they could have afforded to have a child.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)The periodical’s staff reportedly selected amongst thousands of locations, weighing a diverse range of criteria such living costs, air quality, and local amenities, categories for which the pitch-black, silt-covered abyss unanimously received an “F” rating.
“In all categories, the Mariana Trench consistently got our lowest marks as a good place to start a family,” the 14-page article read in part. “The school system is nonexistent, the nearest playground is 300 nautical miles away, and at over 15,000 pounds per square inch, the hydrostatic pressure is enough to crush a child in less than a second.”
“While the area does contain a low crime rate, that benefit is quickly negated by the Mariana Trench’s lack of a police department, not to mention fire, sanitation, highway, or public works departments,” the article continued.
.....
http://www.theonion.com/article/mariana-trench-once-again-named-worst-place-to-rai-34530
hunter
(38,339 posts)In fact it's cold as hell.
U4ikLefty
(4,012 posts)if you did.
SheenaR
(2,052 posts)And all I hear is "We aren't Europe". Well, in these areas, maybe we should try.
Watch "Where to Invade Next" and it will make you nauseous that we even have to worry about these things this much.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)No money! Except for invasions! Deal with reality! Don't ask for rainbows and ponies!
prayin4rain
(2,065 posts)daycare (starting first grade next year) is $1100 per month. It's just ridiculous.
roamer65
(36,747 posts)If the end result is less children, that is a good thing for the ecology of the Earth. Each human brought into existence increases the carbon footprint. That is a fact.
Either we get the problem under control ourselves or Mother Nature will do it for us.
madville
(7,413 posts)we did it cheap I guess, my son stayed with my mother-in-law during the day when he was too young for public school. I stayed with my grandparents or my mom during the day when I was little. People don't seem to be able to do that much anymore though. My brother and his wife pay about $48,000 a year for daycare for their 2 and 4 year old girls.
Initech
(100,121 posts)And it's definitely a supply and demand thing. Mainly because less than 100 people own the entire world's supply and they wont give it up. 
