those are the only 2 reason? really?
Mimeographs.
When I graduated in the mid-90's, I never once had a school supply list to worry about other than what I personally needed for my classes (notebooks, pens, pencils). By the time I graduated, a school lunch was I think $1.25. Where my kids are now school lunches are pushing $3.00. I can easily get a "meal" off the value menu at Wendy's for $3.00.
And yes, I was exaggerating about the private school tuition comparison. Mostly.
i'd say you should go write a book about it and make millions off of your outstanding bright idea that nobody in the history of mankind has ever thought about.
Lunches generally track around inflation. $1.75 in the mid 1990s(which is what I was paying by time I go to jr high), is close to $2.79 adjusted for inflation. The price of school lunches also depends on how many free/reduced lunch kids their are. If the schools percentage of low income kids is low, the price of lunch will be higher.
Mimeographs.
When I graduated in the mid-90's, I never once had a school supply list to worry about other than what I personally needed for my classes (notebooks, pens, pencils). By the time I graduated, a school lunch was I think $1.25. Where my kids are now school lunches are pushing $3.00. I can easily get a "meal" off the value menu at Wendy's for $3.00.
And yes, I was exaggerating about the private school tuition comparison. Mostly.
I suspect the quality over there may be decent, but the income taxes are even higher.
For the record, I am not against day care. My point is you should wait until you actually have kids before you start developing a plan about day care vs. no day care, and that it is possible to develop social skills outside of day care.
For 2013 my daycare bill for my seven year old, for mostly just after school care (some before school, too, but not a whole lot) and during the summer totaled $5199.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...sts-more-than-college-in-31-states/?tid=sm_fb
That actually sounds great to me for NY... we already finished that part (2 toddlers at the same time = basically a 2nd mortgage + taxes) and we were dreading the college age...
Lunches were till only $1.30 (maybe it was $1.35) when I graduated high school in 2003 here. I think it was a steal for what we got; our district didn't bend us over on the price of a basic meal. If I had to guess I would say they broke about even, possibly even lost money on the regular meals, but they did have extras that could have made up for it (ie: $0.35 for a cookie, $0.75 for a pretty generously-packed bowl of fries, slice of pizza for $1.50, etc.).
As for daycare costing as much as college? Fuck that shit. I don't have kids, but I would find a workable alternative to these generally scammer prices.
In a way, rising daycare costs are a good thing. It sucks for single parents but, it's always sucked for single parents. What I'm getting at is maybe a return to having a stay at home parent will cure some of the emotional and social problems of kids today. A return to 'coffee ' networking as opposed to business networking builds communities, makes neighborhoods safer without HOAs and, reduces stress for everyone. Of course, a lot of people will have to learn old skills.
Poor parenting, not daycare, is to blame for most of the problems you mention. A good daycare does way more to enrich a kids mind and social skills than the average stay at home parent. More so if its a shitty parent. Societies problems is the rise of shitty parents. Sending your kid to daycare does not make you a shitty parent, just like having one parent stay at home does not make them good parents either.
You are right and wrong. The reason a good daycare enriches kids is that they have the time and work at it. If a parent takes the time and works at it, they can do an even better job. With regards to society, having a neighborhood full of stay at home parents provides support and feedback on a daily basis and improves parenting IF they're willing to learn. My take is that peer pressure is a better motivator for parents than our current isolationism.
I wouldnt even say the majority of stay at home parents(these days) take the time to do what you say. Frankly I've seen just as many maladjusted kids with a stay at home parent and its because they lack socialization with their own peers. My nephew is a good example. When it comes to interacting with his peers he lacks all social skills. He can interact with adults/authority figures, but other children, not so much.
Daycare and staying at home both have pros and cons. Both can produce equally adjusted or maladjusted kids. It all depends on the parent.
Just saw an article the other day that said there has been a sharp rise in the number of families with a stay-at-home parent, for this exact reason.
quality seems pretty good, but of course I don't really have any way to compare it.
how it generally works around my parts is that a licensed "daycarer" operates out of her private home (5 kids max, lots of rules and regulation regarding the facilities) which is super convenient for the parents as they'll usually be able to find a spot practically just down the road, not sure if this is how it works elsewhere. We also have larger daycare centers but those are usually only found in the city centers (I'm pretty sure you can't run a daycare out of an apartment). Honestly if you have kids and live in an apartment you're doing it wrong.
as for income tax, yeah it's pretty high here but your average danish household with two children have an effective income tax in the high 20's so it's not that outrageous.