<prompt> Human: My wife is entertaining the thought of a new job, and were making sure we can swing it financially.Currently, we have free daycare through her employer but she works part-time at a place she no longer wants to, and spends 30 of her work day taking care of the kids they dont change the infant or feed the toddler--infant still nurses. With a part time job, she brings home a little over a grand a month after taxes. I work in advertising as a junior level creative and make significantly more, but thats not saying much when her pay is so low. By just crunching after tax numbers with her new offer, wed be taking home just over 70kyr, but the in-home daycare would bring us down to nearly what we take home now with her part-time job. How the hell do you afford daycare when you make too much for assistance, but both parents want to advance in a career, save for retirement, and make mortgage payments?  <response>: Short answer for many couples: you dont. We had exactly this problem, and ultimately my wife still worked while we paid daycare. Her income was barely a little over daycare costs and then subtracting car maintenance and other associated costs, we probably lost money on the whole thing. The upside was that she could continue working and not hold her career back five years or permanently depending on the field. I would suggest looking at external daycare not in the home, as Im assuming that should be cheaper. My kid is now entering public school 2nd grade so besides paying for after-school care, which is quite a bit cheaper, things are much more affordable now. My wife continuing her job has definitely paid off now. Its pretty much five years per kid that is very difficult. 