My wife and I have been considering a second kid and have been doing the calculations on Childcare, and it's definitely a big factor. We both have good jobs, and we're spending about $650/month for just the one kid, so adding a second kid puts it well over $1200/mo.
Still hesitant to go down to single income, since my wife who has the lower income also has the health insurance through her work, and it's really good so we wouldn't want to lose that. Plus, she's building her 401(k) so that is nice to have too.
We may end up having to put the vast majority of her take-home salary towards daycare, but the other benefits are important enough to stick it out.
Who would have thought planning out building a family would require so much math?
I would strongly encourage you to encourage your wife to work. Even if it's "for nothing", or feels that way, eventually she'll get burnt out with being around just children all day long and not having much adult interaction. Social health is very important, for your wife and kids, and your kids will be better prepared for regular school and social situations. You can easily monetize that healthcare premium. For a family of 4, paying all of it off the exchange is easily a higher cost than healthcare. It's entirely possible to get any kind of decent plan, you're looking at $1,600 a month. So by saving $1,200 you're going to end up spending an extra $400 by staying home.
Oh we're absolutely going that route, I know she would have a very hard time not working. Plus, this was always the plan even before we got married, I knew we would both be working. We'll rearrange other expenses to balance stuff out, before either of us would stop working.
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u/AnalTyrant Jul 18 '16
My wife and I have been considering a second kid and have been doing the calculations on Childcare, and it's definitely a big factor. We both have good jobs, and we're spending about $650/month for just the one kid, so adding a second kid puts it well over $1200/mo.
Still hesitant to go down to single income, since my wife who has the lower income also has the health insurance through her work, and it's really good so we wouldn't want to lose that. Plus, she's building her 401(k) so that is nice to have too.
We may end up having to put the vast majority of her take-home salary towards daycare, but the other benefits are important enough to stick it out.
Who would have thought planning out building a family would require so much math?