15 “Once-Cheap” Items That Are Now Terribly Overpriced That People Avoid Buying At All Costs

8.

“Childcare, and the price is not necessarily reflective of quality. Many ‘nannies’ are college kids whose only experience is that they were a camp counselor in 2008, and they still want you to pay $50 an hour and provide their health insurance, plus, they constantly take days off. Many home providers charge like a center to microwave chicken nuggets and park kids in front of a TV, plus they are caring for their own kids, too, who will always take priority over yours.”

“We toured a few that had dangerous dogs, random shady adult relatives living with them, weren’t child-proofed, etc. Going to a center, there is more regulation, but no matter how much you pay, they will still take the maximum number of kids that the state allows, so it’s not like you pay more, you get a lower ratio. We are beyond grateful for our amazing childcare provider; they were tough to find. But most working, two-parent families can barely afford childcare, us included, and moms tend to be the ones pushed out of the workforce.”

—lawyerlady

“Having worked in childcare in the past, I can tell you the problem is that it’s a bubble. It’s just as dire on the childcare provider’s side as it is for the parents. I had to stop because I was starving and working full time and couldn’t pay my bills. Early childhood education providers get paid NOTHING, and that is not what you want for the ecosphere that has to do with young babies who don’t know how to tell their parents if someone is mistreating them at their daycare. I completely hear you from the parent side of things. It’s awful on the childcare side, too, and that’s why I personally feel childcare should be universally accessible by being subsidized by the federal government. We have to invest in solving the bubble so that the kids come out on top.”

—shalewark