When Daycare Costs More Than Your Salary

For many families, spending is being cut to the bare minimum. Having cut everything they can, they're now turning to one of the nation's largest expenses in household budgets...daycare.

Many places with year-round wait lists are now struggling to fill open positions. It's no longer a matter of choosing daycare over owning a second car or some other expense. It's a matter of choosing to feed the family.

Parents are finding it exceedingly difficult to meet the demands of childcare costs when many of them are being laid off or having their hours seriously reduced. In those cases, they're able to stay home with the kids while they look for work. In other cases where the cost of daycare has outpaced that of rent and mortgage payments, parents are turning to friends and family for help. Some are even taking nightshifts for the extra money and the fact that their kids are asleep. Even more alarming are the reports that parents are simply taking their kids to work and leaving them in the car with food and water while they finish their shifts (a very. bad. idea.)

Something to consider if you're in this situation is a family co-op. We know lots of families in our neighborhoods who are sharing childcare duties. Perhaps there are a few stay-at-home moms and dads who wouldn't mind watching the kids for free while you work, as long as it's reciprocated of course.

What other daycare solutions can you think of or have you had to use? What advice can you give to other parents in this situation? [USA Today]