My opinion is that it’s just an excuse.
You would have two working adults in the house. But for some reason, it’s only the mother’s income that is factored into child care, like the husband’s income pays the mortgage, electricity and heat, and the mother’s is allocated strictly to child care.
Also, the older a child is, the less expensive day care is.
Travel expenses? Take public transportation or hold out for a job that is closer to home. Many jobs allow you to work from home these days, at least part of the time. Mine does. Clothing expenses? You don’t have to dress in designer. Lunch during the day? Bring your lunch from food you have around the house anyway and eat at your desk.
Finally, no one takes into account the money you’d earn with bonuses and promotions if you’d stayed in the work force, plus paying into company-sponsored retirement plans with a company match, and paying toward, in my case, Social Security, which I’m (supposedly) going to get once I retire.
I work because life is unpredictable, 50% of marriages end in divorce, and men generally pass away before their wives. My husband could lose his job or get sick; he is generally very healthy, but he’s had some health issues in the past couple of years, whereas I have not. I don’t want to be left twisting in the wind with no way to support my children if something should happen.
Right now in my company there are four women in their 50s and 60s whose husbands are disabled and can’t work. These women have been working for many years and are the only ones bringing in any income. If they had thought years ago, “Well, it just wouldn’t be worth it for me to work because of child care . . .” blah blah blah, and counted solely on their husbands’ incomes, they’d be in big trouble now.