Have a parent stay home. It's a choice; boat or extra job, house we can't afford so both parents need to work. Children are not a priority for parents anymore. Make more money for the "ME" generation. Day care shouldn't be an issue because parents should raise their own children.

Is this money not worth caring for your children?

Cost of living is relative to regional areas.

There is a ton more care involved in caring for an infant than a child that is one years of age. This is common knowledge. Therefore, there should be a difference in price.

What state "experts"? Name them! Name there affiliations!

This means they cannot compete with better suited, in-home daycare facilities.

OMG! Talk about an assault on small business! There is no evidence of home daycare's being more dangerous than corporate, union run, daycare facilities. This is an outrageous claim in this article that is not sourced. Where is the report? Source the report, or reports! Do it now!

College trained is different than college educated. What parent doesn't want the best for their kids? Has it ever occurred to you (the writer) that their are amazingly structured home daycare facilities in the state of MN?

I don't think I'm going to ever have kids. I don't think I'd ever be able to afford one. Better off saving that money for early retirement IMHO.

day care, SUV, gasoline, buy lunch, clothes, cell phone, taxes, after paying for all that, you gotta be making some serious coin to come out ahead.

I was at first shocked by the numbers as well, but a facility has 3.5 infants for every teacher (the requirement is 4, but you have to allow for an additional teacher to cover breaks). If the average cost per kid is $14,000 that means each teacher with 3.5 kids is bringing in $49,000. When you factor in the facility costs, liability insurance costs, the cost for a director to manage the facility, the cost to pay more for a lead teacher with a specialized degree, taxes (property and corporate) and employee taxes and benefits, it doesn't leave a whole lot of money for paying the rest of the staff. It's expensive, but all of the costs above are real and legitimate. For our family, the staff, programs and schedule of our center has been worth every penny.

After searching throughout our county for an in-home childcare with an infant opening and that we felt comfortable with, we decided on a center. We decided to pull him out after the first week after doing daily suprise visits and always found him crying and being ignored. We were lucky enough to find a wonderful daycare with an infant opening and have been there ever since. I guess my point is that regardless of whether you are in center or home based provider, you need to watch like a hawk and be the best advocate for your kids that you can.

The costs are ridiculous.When I was a teen (way back in the 90s) I babysat three kids for $5 an hour in their own home and could feed them for far less from their own cupboards. I think people need to return to this model of child care.

Tap the talents of your local neighborhood teens. Children learn much faster from young people, you have more control over their activities and nutrition, and it could save families thousands of dollars.

There are some amazing teens out there and people should shop around and hire one of them before sending their toddlers off to one of these centers where they sit in front of the TV with a bowl of cookies (the situation I found the step-kids in when I made a surprise early visit to pick them up at one of those $400 a week kiddy palaces.)

Sure, there are great centers out there for the well-off to give their kids all the great advantages and head-starts compared to their peers, but most of us simply can't afford them. And we're looked down upon by them because they think we "choose" to work instead of stay home or we "choose" to send them to a less expensive facility. They don't realize choices are much more plentiful when you have a large bank account.

And these day care centers need to justify why their costs exceed that of a year in college (and in many cases that $13,000 will get you room and board with meal plans at college). Considering what a 2-year-old eats compared to a 20-year-old and the materials (Dr. Seuss books versus anatomy texts/stuffed animals versus laptops) these fees are outrageous.

jimmywestone - I think you need a reality check on the actual cost of daycare #1) get rid of your smart phone - My cell phone is the only phone we have and the $20/month I pay for a data plan would not even make one small difference in paying for child care #2) get rid of your cable or satalite TV - true I could do this. It would pay for 1 week of child care. #3) start driving a 5-10 year old car - already do because I cannot afford a new one and I pray that nothing goes wrong with it anytime soon. #4) Don't buy that car until you can afford to pay cash so that you don't have to pay any interest on it. - see #3 #5) Stop eating out so much - We don't. Eating out is a luxury at my house (even fast food) With these 5 easy steps, it is amazing how much easier it is to pay for daycare. Well now lets see, you managed to pay for exactly one week of daycare. Thank you so much for your wisdom.

Pretty sobering statistic and a good argument for delaying having children until you have a career.