The Restrepo family has 11 weeks of summer vacation. The Michigan family gets nine of those weeks off thanks to the Kids Club program offered by their local public school.
But summer camp isn’t free: The Restrepos pay $225 a week for each child, totalling $4,050 for the nine weeks for both kids.
“Honestly, I don’t know what we would do without it,” William Restrepo said.
Child care costs tend to soar during the summer, when taxpayer-funded public education gives way to parent-funded daycare centers and overnight camps, costs that rise with inflation.
“Every summer we’re reminded that child care is really expensive,” said Matt Schultz, principal credit analyst at LendingTree.
Protect your assets: Best high-yield savings accounts for 2023
According to a new study published June 24 by personal finance site Intuit Credit Karma, Latest Data On the eternal struggle to raise funds to give kids a quality summer:
- 61% of parents with children under 18 say they find it expensive to raise their children in the summer
- 40% say they can’t afford to send their children to summer programs
- 35% said they had to adjust their work hours to care for children during the summer
- 29% said summer childcare costs are preventing them from saving money.
“The summer months put an added financial strain on parents as they have to provide an extra seven to eight hours a day of adult supervision for young children,” Courtney Alev, consumer finance advocate at Credit Karma, said in an email interview.
Childcare fees are rising, and not just in the summer
Child care costs are on the rise, and not just during the summer: A recent report from LendingTree, another personal finance site, found that American families now spend nearly a fifth of their income on child care services.
There are several factors driving up costs and tight supply in the child care industry. One is inflation, which has caused the prices of just about everything to rise. Another is the pandemic, which has forced thousands of child care centers to close. A third is that pandemic-era federal aid to child care centers expired last year.
For the Restrepo family, who live in suburban Detroit, summer camp costs are rising. Kids Club The summer program offered by South Lyon Community Schools previously cost $200 per child per week. During the pandemic, that price has risen to $225.
Parents still consider it a bargain: The kids’ club is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for all but the last two weeks of summer, and on registration day, families queue online as if they were looking for Taylor Swift tickets.
For Restrepos, the only thing left to do is cover the final two weeks of summer.
“During those two weeks, my wife and I will use some of our vacation time to cover whatever we can ourselves,” William Restrepo said. On other days, “we rely on my grandmother and other family members to help us out until the school year starts.”
Many parents have trouble finding summer camps or can’t afford the costs.
Another investigation A summer child care survey released in June by the nonprofit group Parents Together Action found that 54% of parents with school-age children had trouble finding or affording summer child care or camps. Other findings included:
- 59% of parents said they or someone in their family has had to reduce their hours or quit their job because they can’t afford reliable summer childcare.
- Additionally, 38% said they had to make financial compromises, such as not paying utility bills, in order to afford summer childcare.
“I quit my job because I wouldn’t have money if I worked and paid for child care,” one Utah parent told the survey.
Average daily cost of summer camps in the US in 2024 Approximately $87 Day camps cost $250 a night and overnight camps cost $173, according to online marketplace Care.com, citing figures from the American Camp Association. Camp prices are on the rise, reflecting a trend in the child care industry overall.
Here are some tips to help make summer child care more affordable this year and in the future.
Plan for summer
Child care costs tend to rise in the summer, so it’s a good idea to factor this into your budget.
Kiplinger’s personal finance website Suggest a formulaIn September, add up how much you spent that summer and divide that total by 9. That’s how much you should save each month until next summer.
“This price isn’t going to go any lower, so you might want to add 10 to 15 percent on top of it,” Schultz said.
Find a summer camp with extended hours
Many camps offer extended-day options, which will likely cost more but may still be cheaper than putting your child in full-time care, says Andy Cooper, a money-savings expert at consumer site CouponBirds.
Consider free or low-cost options
Two federal programs, Head Start and Early Head StartIt provides free or low-cost support to pregnant women and families with children up to age 5.
Areb said parents can also explore other local resources, such as libraries, parks and programs based at organizations like the YMCA or Salvation Army.
Take advantage of tax credits
of Child support deduction It’s adjusted to offset child care expenses at tax time. If you paid child care expenses over the summer while working or searching for work, you may be eligible.
The amount of the credit that actually reduces the tax you pay is based on your income and the percentage of child care expenses.
Open a Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
This is a pre-tax account that can be used to pay for eligible child care services, including summer programs.
The amount before tax Dependent Care FSAThe funds can be applied to qualified child care expenses, and when it comes time to spend it, it’ll feel like free money.
Consider summer child care options
There are many different child care options available in the summer.
One option is college students, who are typically home for the summer and may be bored and want some extra cash. Kiplinger advises that this plan works best with older kids, who may benefit from a little more supervision while working from home.
Another option is babysitting sharing: Sharing a babysitter with another family is “a great way to cut costs while still maintaining babysitting flexibility,” reports Kiplinger..
Or, consider forming a child care co-op with other parents in your neighborhood to share summer child care responsibilities, Areb says.