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Q. My belief is that a single mother can raise a child as well as two parents if she tries hard enough... the only thing I can't figure out is money! These days women are often choosing to become single parents but do these women have a lot of money already saved up? What kind of jobs do they have?
Obviously it depends on location, but how much money should a woman have in the bank before she chooses to become a single parent? How much money should she make per month if she wants to be "comfortable" financially?
All this is assuming that the woman is strong enough to handle single parenthood etc, I'm just wondering about the money aspect.
Obviously it depends on location, but how much money should a woman have in the bank before she chooses to become a single parent? How much money should she make per month if she wants to be "comfortable" financially?
All this is assuming that the woman is strong enough to handle single parenthood etc, I'm just wondering about the money aspect.
Answer
Some of this depends on how you're going get to be a single parent. If you're going to do artificial insemination, you should have enough cash to cover two tries. IVF is about 10K per try without insurance, and mine covered 80%, so we saved for two full IVFs and 1 implantation. (We got pregnant naturally after IVF #2) Adoption is also about $10K, but some employers help with that (like IBM).
Baby costs - we did that on a shoestring, using an existing dresser (3 drawers high) for him and as a changing table. We put diapers in one drawer, lotions and a non-skid pad on top. We did buy a crib / toddler bed for $300, and a stroller for $200 (used). We did not buy a bassinet - Dr. Spock said a cardboard box would work, and it did.
I tried to breastfeed, had problems, so formula was about 1K the first year. If I hadn't breastfed or used a warehouse club generic formula, it would have been at least 2K. Diapers is maybe 2K / year. Clothes can be from $300 (all used) to $1000 each year.
Childcare is the big expense. We were able to do it at home the first two years, but I think my friends were paying as much as $1500 per month, in Raleigh NC - relatively cheap.
So, a single mom should
- Have on hand: $5 - 30K, for:
- Getting pregnant costs (0 - $20K, depending on insurance)
- pregnancy and birth costs (3 - 10K, depending on insurance)
- Baby basics (1 - 2K, depending on gifts, used availability)
- Make enough to rent or buy a 1br place, plus:
- food for self ($300/mo?)
- Gasoline, utilities (?)
- Child care (1 - 3K / mo)
- Child food and diapers ($350 / mo)
- Toy budget ($100 / mo) (we didn't want lots of toys, but couldn't stop ourselves)
- Debt payments (school loans, car loans)
- Enough for your other needs (clothes, haircuts, etc)
This is at minimum - if you make $500 / month more than the minimum, you should be in very good shape. You can also save up a year's worth of ongoing costs in advance, and child care can be tax deductible with a child-care spending account.
To give you an example, he's now 2yo. We have a household income of about $70K, a 3br house, 1,100/ mortgage, $400/mo utilities, $500/mo to retirement, $500/mo for childcare 3 days a week, $400/mo school loan payments, $600/mo groceries, $300/mo saving, no car payments. We're squeaking by - no dinners out, no xmas presents for the parents - because we're saving up for house repairs.
Good luck, and kids do just fine with single mothers who have the financial resources to care for them. Dual role models don't have a big effect, really - it's all about the financial resources.
Some of this depends on how you're going get to be a single parent. If you're going to do artificial insemination, you should have enough cash to cover two tries. IVF is about 10K per try without insurance, and mine covered 80%, so we saved for two full IVFs and 1 implantation. (We got pregnant naturally after IVF #2) Adoption is also about $10K, but some employers help with that (like IBM).
Baby costs - we did that on a shoestring, using an existing dresser (3 drawers high) for him and as a changing table. We put diapers in one drawer, lotions and a non-skid pad on top. We did buy a crib / toddler bed for $300, and a stroller for $200 (used). We did not buy a bassinet - Dr. Spock said a cardboard box would work, and it did.
I tried to breastfeed, had problems, so formula was about 1K the first year. If I hadn't breastfed or used a warehouse club generic formula, it would have been at least 2K. Diapers is maybe 2K / year. Clothes can be from $300 (all used) to $1000 each year.
Childcare is the big expense. We were able to do it at home the first two years, but I think my friends were paying as much as $1500 per month, in Raleigh NC - relatively cheap.
So, a single mom should
- Have on hand: $5 - 30K, for:
- Getting pregnant costs (0 - $20K, depending on insurance)
- pregnancy and birth costs (3 - 10K, depending on insurance)
- Baby basics (1 - 2K, depending on gifts, used availability)
- Make enough to rent or buy a 1br place, plus:
- food for self ($300/mo?)
- Gasoline, utilities (?)
- Child care (1 - 3K / mo)
- Child food and diapers ($350 / mo)
- Toy budget ($100 / mo) (we didn't want lots of toys, but couldn't stop ourselves)
- Debt payments (school loans, car loans)
- Enough for your other needs (clothes, haircuts, etc)
This is at minimum - if you make $500 / month more than the minimum, you should be in very good shape. You can also save up a year's worth of ongoing costs in advance, and child care can be tax deductible with a child-care spending account.
To give you an example, he's now 2yo. We have a household income of about $70K, a 3br house, 1,100/ mortgage, $400/mo utilities, $500/mo to retirement, $500/mo for childcare 3 days a week, $400/mo school loan payments, $600/mo groceries, $300/mo saving, no car payments. We're squeaking by - no dinners out, no xmas presents for the parents - because we're saving up for house repairs.
Good luck, and kids do just fine with single mothers who have the financial resources to care for them. Dual role models don't have a big effect, really - it's all about the financial resources.
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