The cost of having children weighs on families
Many parents believe that raising children is the most important thing they will do in their lifetime.
But it's also one of the most expensive.
The federal government estimates that it will cost parents $233,610 over a lifetime to raise a kid who was born in 2015, including housing, food, child care, clothing and other costs. That's $12,980 a year, and it doesn't even include sending that kid to college.
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"It seems like every year it's getting harder and harder for somebody in the middle class to raise a family," said Ragan Callahan, a teacher who lives in Milton and has a 2-year-old daughter, Quinn. "It is absolutely, absolutely worth it, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. But it can be frustrating."
Callahan is far from alone. Almost a third of the 1,120 parents surveyed by the non-profit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation last year said child care costs caused significant financial problems.
Some child care advocates and state leaders believe society should be doing more to help parents afford a good upbringing for their kids. Even in the face of brutal state budget shortfalls, some legislators want the state to pitch in more.
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"It’s hypocritical for us as a state to stress the importance of the family unit and then not back it up with this kind of basic and essential support system," said Rep. Debra Heffernan, D-Bellefonte.
Heffernan has sponsored legislation that would allow state employees — male and female — to take 12 weeks of paid leave if they have a child or adopt a child under age 6.
Callahan said she had to go without pay after Quinn was born, leaning on the salary of her husband Steven, also a teacher. She had to go back to work faster than she wanted and laments that "she'll never get that time back."
"It's heart-wrenching to go back to work when your child's only 6 weeks old. They can barely look at you, let alone lift up their head, and you're leaving them to strangers," Callahan said. "The guilt is ridiculous. You do nothing but think them about it all day."
To Callahan, it feels like the financial pressure of parenting was most severe at the time when she most needed to be with her daughter. Experts like Helen Blank, Director of Childcare and Early Learning at the National Women's Law Center say that's the dilemma — the first few months are where babies need parents the most, yet most Americans can't go long without earning paychecks and daycare for newborns is immensely expensive.
"Paid leave allows you stay home with your children during one of the most critical times of their attachment and development," Blank said. "This is a common-sense policy."
Heffernan argues state government, which has 32,700 workers and is the state's largest employer, should set an example.
"Nobody should have to choose between their job and their family. I think that's something we as a society should believe in," Heffernan said. "The state should be a leader on this. We should be leading on leave."
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Some of Delaware's biggest employers, like the DuPont Co., AstraZeneca and J.P. Morgan Chase all offer paid leave to their employees, Heffernan points out.
The obstacle for Heffernan's legislation is the same one that virtually all other legislation faces these days — cost.
State government is already $386 million short of a balanced budget. Even if they raise taxes, lawmakers are likely going to be cutting programs throughout state government.
Legislative staff have not yet crunched the numbers on how much the paid leave proposal would cost. But an analysis of a similar bill last year pegged the price tag at around $1.8 million for a full fiscal year. Heffernan's bill would take effect on Jan. 1, 2019, halfway through the fiscal year, so the first year would cost half as much as a full year.
Daycare is one of the costs that is chewing up family budgets at a time when more households find both parents working. In Delaware, the average family spends 10-12 percent of its income on child care, according to research by Child Care Aware America, a non-profit that studies and advocates for child care.
"The recommendation from the federal government is that you shouldn't be spending more than 7 percent of your income on child care," said Dionne Dobbins, the organization's Senior Research Director. "But there's almost nowhere in the country where people are actually paying that. It's usually much more."
In some cases, Dobbins said, child care for an infant costs more than college tuition.
Callahan said some of her co-workers who are having kids are considering staying at home instead of working, because the cost of daycare is basically eliminating the financial advantage of working.
"Child care is basically another mortgage payment for us," she said.
The child care challenge can be insurmountable to folks who lose their jobs or are in deep poverty. That's why Rep. Sean Lynn, D-Dover, has proposed expanding eligibility for a state program that helps parents pay for child care while they are searching for a job.
The federal Child Care and Development Block Grant helps people pay for child care when they lose their job, as long as they are actively looking for work. Lynn's bill would expand that eligibility to people who are already unemployed but have begun looking for work.
"It’s tremendously important for parents to be able to go back to work in order to provide for their children, but the cost of childcare can be prohibitive," Lynn said in a news release.
A cost analysis of Lynn's bill hasn't been completed yet.
Blank, who worked with Lynn on the bill, said state governments should be doing everything they can to make sure people can afford child care.
"Child care is so strongly tied to parents getting and keeping a job," she said. "It allows parents to have some movement up the economic ladder."
Contact Matthew Albright at malbright@delawareonline.com, (302) 324-2428 or on Twitter @TNJ_malbright.