After-school childcare costs take a hit after divorce – but I don’t regret it

During a divorce in 2020, the subject of after-school care for our two children came up, as well as the cost associated with it. My son was in third grade and my daughter was starting kindergarten. The thought of my kids being home alone after school gave me so much anxiety. I insisted on adding details about after-school care to the divorce decree and agreed that my ex and I would split the costs.

Because we divorced during the pandemic, I had forgotten about after-school care for about six months as my kids were doing virtual learning at home. However, when their school reopened, the cost of care hit me hard.

I started to put my life in order

I had just started my job in communications and was adjusting to paying rent, a car, insurance and more as a new divorced parent. At the time, the extra expenses related to the after-school program were out of my budget.

I didn’t realize how expensive the program would be at my children’s school. I signed the kids up and created an account for our family with my credit card, and my children’s father sent his share each month. Still, it seemed expensive.

There was only one on-site program at my children’s school in Houston, which now costs about $400 per month for one child, not including additional tuition, bringing it to about $2,000 per semester.

I tried to see the bright side of things. Thanks to the program, my children always had a place to go after school; they knew the place, they were with their friends, it was close to my house and the pick-up lasted until 6 p.m., giving me more time to work. Having the children registered in the same place for care also meant less co-parenting.

I like knowing there is a plan for my children

Even though I was working remotely from home every other week and needed the program less on a daily basis, I still wanted it. Above all, it was peace of mind for me. I appreciated knowing that a plan was already in place for my children, if I needed one for a work meeting, running an errand, if one child had a doctor’s appointment and the other didn’t, or if I had an appointment myself.

Not every family has a babysitter, nanny, neighbor or grandparent to help them after school.

For a divorced parent like me, it was important to include helpful requirements regarding signing up for after-school child care in our executive order. For example, how care costs will be paid and how the program will be determined.

After school registration is so competitive

Options and enrollment may be limited depending on where you live, and it can be very competitive just to enroll your child in a program. Some programs base their enrollment on lottery systems and are booked up several months in advance of the school year. This may mean scrambling to determine an immediate plan if registrations fill up. Keeping busy for a few hours after school shouldn’t be so difficult.

Before living in Houston, I lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and was surprised to see online that the after-school program at a public school near my old home cost between $750 and $900 per semester. On the other hand, in my hometown near Syracuse, New York, the rate for after-school care for one child, five days a week, is $116 per week. The cost of after-school care seems to vary greatly depending on where you are.

Even though my children’s after-school programs resulted in thousands of dollars in debt that I’m still paying off five years later, I don’t regret it.