3 Underrated Financial Benefits of At-Home Parenting
The decision to become a stay-at-home mom is not easy. Not only does it mean giving up a career you’ve worked hard to build, it could also mean losing a good salary. This may require you to budget carefully to make ends meet.
That said, there are certain financial advantages to being a stay-at-home parent. If you’re not sure whether taking a career break is the right choice for you, here are a few things to recognize:
1. Don’t spend money on childcare
According to Care.com, the average weekly cost of early childhood care in 2023 was $321 per child. For infant care, the average weekly cost was $293 for one child and $556 for two children requiring full-day care.
As a stay-at-home parent, you don’t have to pay huge bills and can keep that money in your bank account for other expenses. In fact, if you look at the numbers, you’ll see that if you’re a modest earner, the cost of child care can effectively wipe out your paycheck.
Now then your A job that provides health insurance for your family may be reason enough to consider keeping it. However, if you have a spouse or partner who remains employed and whose job provides health insurance, you may come to the conclusion that it doesn’t make financial sense to work these days because of the cost of child care.
2. Give yourself more time to bargain.
As a working parent juggling work and home life, you may have very limited time to shop for groceries or household items. However, as a stay-at-home parent, you may have more time to go to the store during the week, and doing so may be a way to get your child out of the house for a bit. But that extra time can actually benefit your finances.
Let’s say your schedule allows you time to run one or two errands each day. If your family’s favorite cereal is available at your local supermarket, and the children’s underwear you need to buy for your newly potty-trained toddler is at the big box store across town, it’s time to take advantage of both deals. As a working parent, you may only have time to visit one of those stores and miss out on a single sale.
Plus, if your kids nap during the day, you may have more time to search for deals online and get better prices. You’ll also have more time to organize things like coupons so they don’t go to waste.
3. Potential tax savings
Loss of income may be something your family will have to adjust to. However, one of the benefits of being a stay-at-home parent is that it puts your family in a lower tax bracket. This means you’ll pay a lower tax rate on your highest income.
For example, let’s say you earn $60,000 and your spouse earns $90,000 at the beginning of 2024, for a total household income of $150,000. Then, let’s say you had a baby in February and left for work. Now your household income has decreased to $90,000. However, this also means your tax bracket has changed from the 22% to the 12% bracket, so you will only pay the 12% tax rate on your highest income.
The decision to become a full-time parent for a year, several years, or indefinitely is certainly a difficult one to make, and there are several financial pros and cons to consider. But keep these perks in mind when making your choice.
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