Studies show that nearly one-in-three families spend about 20 percent or more of their income on child care.
This got us wondering, what's more affordable: daycare or nannies?
Turns out, it depends on how many kids you have and where you live.
The easiest thing to do is go to Care.com, an online service for parents and care providers. It lets you do price comparisons between average daycare center rates in your city versus average costs for a full-time nanny.
For a one-child family in Jacksonville, it's cheaper to put them in daycare than to hire a full-time nanny:
Daycare: $342 a week
Full-time nanny: $566 a week
But if you have two kids, it's cheaper to hire a nanny on average than it is to put them in daycare:
Daycare: $658 a week
Nanny: $626 a week
But what if you live in South Georgia? It's far cheaper to put one child in daycare than hiring a full-time nanny:
Daycare: $140 a week
Full-time nanny: $565 a week
Daycare in South Georgia is also cheaper than hiring a full-time nanny for two kids for $269 a week.
Daycare: $269 a week
In most cases, daycare is your most affordable option.
But if you want more personalized care, there's also a service called Nanny Share, which is exactly how it sounds: Two or more families split the cost of a single nanny.
But remember when considering nannies, you have to pay them at least minimum wage, often much more as their employer. You also have certain obligations like paying their sick and vacation days, as well as setting up their taxes.
If being a boss, scheduler and human resource manager isn’t something you want to do, daycare is the easiest and most affordable option.
Another money-saving tip is if you have a dependent care flexible savings account. You can set aside up to $5,000 in pre-tax payroll deductions to pay for childcare expenses if the child is under 13 and claimed as a dependent on your tax returns.
You can use that money for an in-home daycare, licensed nursery or daycare, and before and after-school care.