Is it worth it for me to work when I have a baby?

Question

I am having my first baby and my husband and I have thought about me staying home. We have also thought about me working 32 hours a week and putting our baby in my mother's daycare.

I make a decent income on my own, but once I pay for daycare (with family discount) for my baby and pay costs of gas, I will be taking home $800 a month home in savings.

Is it worth it to work 32 hours a week and spend 1.5 hours total communiting in the car everyday just to bring home $800 a month?

When we have our second child I will only be bringing home about $400 a month after paying for another daycare charge.

Answer 1

once your baby is here, i will be willing to bet you will not want to put in the daycare for that amount of time, it is a personal decision, but my opinion is stay with your child, but i do not know you, I am a stay at home mother , to us it is worth the loss in wages, these are our children, it all depends on what your priority's are

Answer 2

Well if you and your husband can afford to make it on his salrary then I would say stay hoem maybe untill the baby is 1 yr old then go back to work. In my situation I have a 6 year old and a 19 month old and by the time I put them in full time daycare then after school care I wouldnt even bring home 50 dollars a week. So I chose to stay at home, but on the other aspect I dont have anyone I can trust to keep my kids. I dont like daycares because I have worked in them since I was 18. I have some college but not enough to break even. You might would enjoy staying home with your baby for a while then decide to go back to work. Good Luck in yuor decision.

Answer 3

Well, there is more than one way to look at this. Yes, it is a paltry amount but it would certainly be a cushion and also, you could afford some extras, maybe even a decent vacation every year. The other thing is, you will not be a mother raising small children forever. Eventually you will want to rejoin the workforce. As I have found out, it is much harder to get back in than I thought. In fact, only 70% of moms who want to go back to work actually get a job.

On the flip side, your children will be little only once. There are a tremendous amount of "firsts" that you will miss. I have found staying at home to be tremendously rewarding. And, although I know you said that the daycare was your mother's, you'll never have to worry about what kind of care your baby is getting.

If you do decide to stay at home, find a moms organization. You will be able to meet with other people for activities to get everyone out of the house and you get to talk to adults, as well.

Answer 4

Sometimes it's not about money, but your own personal happiness and the baby's. For me, I thought I was going to die, putting my daughter in daycare. But, now she is so happy, and I'm happier, too. I don't think I could really cut it as a stay at home mom. Some women can, but I can't. It frustrates and overwhelms me. I like working, I guess. I feel more productive.

My best friend struggled with it for a year, and finally put her baby in daycare and went back to work, too. She is a lot happier, too, and her husband doesn't have to work as much overtime to support the family.

It's just up to each family to decide what works best. If your mom has a daycare, that's great! You know your child will be loved and well cared-for.

Answer 5

STAY HOME with your baby. You can always go back to work once the kids are in school. $800 a month is NOT worth everything you will miss out on, especially in that first year. Now if you cannot make it w/o the extra $800 then by all means go back to work. You might also see if your company has anything that you could do from home. Good Luck and congrats

Answer 6

I know we shouldn't make our life choices based on money alone, but money is something we have to consider carefully. If you decide to stay at home, you probably will have the extra time to find bargain/discounts to lower the bills for your family. (chk out sites like TheGroceryGame, PriceGrabber and SearchAllDeals) You can also try to start a blog and earn some money from Google Adsense (tho it is unrealistic that you will see a lot of money right away). Other than the benefit of spending quality time with your children, it is also important for you to keep your own social support group. If your social circle group largely comes from your job, you should seriously consider how you can keep the connection with them or even at least working part time for them. I think you are very lucky to have a mother who is associated with a daycare. You should take advantage of it and keep your options open and flexible. The trick in life is to find a good balance and I'm sure you can do it. BTW, congratulations to your new baby!

Answer 7

That is a tough decision. I pay more in daycare that I am making at my part time job. But I work at a college that will someday pay my kids tuition. I also am contributing to my retirement plan and getting health care coverage. I value my time at home with my kids. I would miss out on that for anything.

But I counsel women who have given up their careers to stay home and then can't get back into the workplace. One woman stayed home raised her kids and is now practically destitute due to a divorce. There is no right answer. Figure out what will work for you. My only real advice is if you stay home, be the one who manages the finances!

Answer 8

This is something that you need to weigh out for yourself. I returned to work because I am the kind of woman who is not happy unless I am working as well. What will make you feel happy?? If you aren't happy just staying home, baby will sense that and you want your child to know you are happy with everything in your life... money isn't always the only reason to work... after all, there is such a thing as personal satisfaction. Write out your pros and cons list... I wish you luck in making this difficult decision.

Answer 9

personally i quit didn't work with my first child and i had so much fun watching my bundle of joy grow. Don't work if your husband can handle the bills it will be a joy. I promise.