Sunday, April 28, 2024

Should I pay your child care costs?

The TV (Spectrum) was on in the background, but all I heard was not only am I supposed to pay their college loans, but I need to pay for their mom and dad's cost to go to work by paying for child care for their little ones.  Governor announces details on Child Care access program (spectrumnews1.com)

Let's think about this. I didn't have any college loans to pay back at high interest rates, and I didn't have any daycare costs because I didn't go back to work as a librarian until my kids were in school, and then only part time so I was home when they were. Many parents don't pay these costs--except for other's kids. Maybe they juggle schedules with a spouse or drop the kids off at Grandma's, or wait like I did. 

I have 2 female relatives who run a daycare in their homes so they can raise their own children, and they earn much more than they would if they were employed outside the home. Why? Daycare can cost from $27,125 a year in CT to $14,813 in SD. Teachers according to BLS make $71.93 and hour and nurses $72.48 (figures include benefits). Sounds like a lot of money unless you have child care costs that the Governor of Ohio wants me to help with.

I can hear the screams now. But you lived in ancient times (1980s) and probably only had one car, one TV and no contracts for internet, cable, phone, and never went out to eat at 5x what it costs at home. Yup. And now that I can afford not to work (because I saved and invested the maximum allowed when I did work), and can afford a pedicure, a cleaning service, a vacation, and someone to do home repairs, I'm supposed to pay off someone else's living expenses so she can be a wage slave at a salary I couldn't have dreamed of. Check the BLS figures.

Update:  When AI (Copilot) started giving me vague responses like consulting a government website, I wrote: "If I wanted to spend hours looking at government sites I wouldn't be asking Copilot." So it apologized and gave me more specifics. Is it OK to be rude and snarky for something that isn't human and just a collection of data and pixels? Does the Bible cover that?

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