RANT: The price of daycare in Seattle is INSANE

Dec 221 min read

We just got our pricing quote for daycare when I go back to work. $2,100. Per. Month. For FULL TIME. Our daughter isn't even born yet and I'm already paying for a spot.

That's more than our mortgage. We're not poor but this feels genuinely impossible? How are people actually doing this? Are we supposed to just never have kids on a normal income?

My mom keeps suggesting one of us should stay home but that's not really feasible for us financially even though daycare is eating like 30% of our net income. I don't get it.

7 comments234 views

Comments(7)

MMack G.New Dad22h ago

The Seattle daycare market is legitimately brutal because cost of living is so high but daycare wages are still low. It's an unsustainable system and honestly it's worth being angry about.

BBen D.Regular16h ago

Nanny share cut our costs by about 40%. If you can find another family with a similar age kid and split a nanny, it changes the math significantly. Might be worth posting in Seattle parent groups.

LLuke N.Regularjust now

$2,100/month is INSANE. That's literally a car payment. I'm in the Seattle area too and got similar quotes. We ended up doing nanny share with another family and cut costs in half.

JJoe C.Regular14h ago

What about waiting lists at co-op daycare places? They're cheaper and you volunteer a few hours a month. Not available everywhere but worth investigating in your neighborhood.

BBenny R.Regular11h ago

This is why some people decide one parent stays home despite the career cost. Not saying that's the answer for you, but $2,100/month literally makes that the financial break-even point, which is wild.

PPete D.Regularjust now

Have you checked if your employer offers daycare subsidies or FSA benefits? I got $5k/year knocked off through that which made a dent. Not a solution but something.

IIsaac T.Regularjust now

Nobody's doing this comfortably lol. Most parents I know are either: getting family help, both parents working remote and doing partial daycare, or going broke. There's no secret hack—it's just broken.