For Christina Townsend, the cost of child care for her young son was $1,625 a month in Northern Virginia, about 50% of her take-home income. That was on top of the financial burden of taking unpaid parental leave when he was born.
Last summer, her small family decided to move across the country to Denver, Colorado, which they found more affordable. But the cost of child care remained a challenge. In the end, Townsend, who herself has a masters degree in early childhood education, made the decision to stop teaching and work remotely part-time as a contractor and care full-time for her now 18 month old son. She liked being with her son, and her husband had a larger income anyway. But the decision was not without trade-offs: no benefits, or money for retirement.
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