So, the results are in!
First off, before I get to the technical stuff, thanks so much for the overwhelming response I received for childcare costs! I got answers from people located as far aways as Brazil and New Zealand which was fascinating. Turns out people are pretty passionate about childcare costs.
Unsurprisingly the nanny option tops the list in cost, but look at those daycare costs in the UK and Manhattan!
So, the chart above shows ALL types of responses I got – everything from live in nanny, to daycares. If I was only given monthly data I divided it by 22 days, unless it was a specific situation such as a live in nanny that worked 6 days per week. All currencies were converted to CDN.
Here’s a breakdown of just daycare costs, as that is what I received the most answers for.
What I did NOT take into account was any tax refunds. I know here in Quebec we get a tax refund. If you pay more than $7 per day you can get rebate from the government depending on income. It runs between 26% ($150,355 and plus) to 75% (less than $33,740) from the gov’t). In Alberta, they can get back maximum $7,000 annually. Because I did not know all tax credit situations I just left as is.
Look at the difference in costs for Russia depending on where you are and public versus private, and the costs in Bangkok seems so high!
I know there are all sorts of different incomes around the world, and you could definitely say that incomes in London are higher but I am not sure that for most people it makes up for the high cost in childcare. I know when I was working as an underwriter, there were very few other women working in my same position. Most stayed home or worked in their local town while their husbands commuted in. I was frustrated at the time, but am now more understanding (even if it still seems a bit unfair).
What do you think? Were you surprised by some of these results or is it what you expected?
Michelle Little
Writer & Photographer
This was interesting! Though as you mentioned, gov’t reimbursements are significant so the full price doesn’t tell the whole story.
In Montreal if your family’s income is under $100k a year you get 60% back — that’s HUGE! We pay $40/day for our two children to attend preschool/daycare twice a week but we get 60% back as do almost every family at their play school.
I agree government reimbursements might make the chart much different, but alas it was just a bit too difficult to try and collect the data for every single situation. Yes, I agree we are very lucky here in Quebec with our childcare policies!
Pingback: 10 Pros and 10 Cons of living in London
Pingback: 10 Pros vs 10 Cons of living in London | Angloberry – A place for travellers to find services abroad