Your rent, mortgage, utility bills, cell phone services, cable television, car payments, health insurance, credit card payments and entertainment costs can add up to hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars per month. You may have been struggling to pay your bills before you had a baby, and now you feel like you’re in over your head with additional child care costs. 

While you love having a child, you’re finding the costs of it hard to cope with, and you know you’re going to need to go back to work soon. 

However, it may be a challenge finding a child care program that costs less than what you’re making. After all, you’ve heard that child care costs are expensive, and they’re only increasing. 

Let’s take a look at child care costs today and what your financial aid options are when it comes to paying for a program. ​

Child care cost for children of any age in the United States is expensive. It doesn’t matter whether you’re sending a child to daycare or preschool, or you’re hiring a nanny or babysitter to come and help you at home – every option has been found to be unaffordable for the average family.

Even though you may struggle to pay for child care, at the same time, you want to ensure that your child is being properly taken care of while you’re at work. That means you’ll need to figure out a solution where you know your child is safe, happy, and learning valuable skills like socializing and reading when you’re not around. 

Let’s take a look at the expenses of child care, along with what choices you can explore when you’re trying to figure out your next move. ​