Is it worth working if child care costs so much?

It depends on the paycheck. A $50,000 second income keeps $30,575 before income tax after $15,600 of care for one infant and $3,825 of payroll tax, which is 61.2 percent of the gross. At $30,000 it keeps $12,105, or 40.4 percent. With two infants, the $40,000 second income keeps $5,140 before income tax, and after federal income tax at 22 percent it loses money, unless the FSA and the credit return enough to cover the gap.

What is the break-even income for child care?

Before income tax, with one infant at $15,600, the break-even second income is $16,892, because the paycheck minus 7.65 percent payroll tax must equal the care. After federal income tax at 22 percent it is $22,175, and the FSA saving of $2,224 lowers it to about $19,014. With two infants at $31,200, the break-even after federal income tax at 22 percent is $44,350.

Does staying home hurt your career?

Yes, by about 7 percent of wages per child, according to the labor economics literature on the motherhood wage penalty, and the penalty lingers for years after the return. The subtraction also leaves out the retirement match, the Social Security credits, and the wage growth, which are worth more than the year's kept amount over the next decade.

How much does child care cost for two children?

At the national average, $31,200 a year for two infants in full-time center care, or $2,600 a month, which is 35.7 percent of the $87,460 median household income. The FSA saving stays $1,650, because the $7,500 limit is per household, not per child.

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The nursery ledger · Table No. 45

Is Child Care Worth It for a Second Income?

A $50,000 second income keeps $30,575 before income tax after $15,600 of care and $3,825 of payroll tax. At $30,000 it keeps $12,105. This article prices the break-even, the two-child flip, and the career the subtraction leaves out.

Filed November 2, 2026 · figures checked against 2026 sources

The question, stated in dollars

The question is whether the second paycheck is worth the child care it requires, and the answer is a subtraction, not a feeling. Take a second earner making $50,000 a year, and one infant in full-time center care at $15,600 a year. The payroll tax on $50,000 is 7.65 percent, which is $3,825, and the care is $15,600, and the second paycheck keeps $30,575 before income tax, which is 61.2 percent of the gross. The same earner at $40,000 keeps $21,340 before income tax, which is 53.3 percent, and at $30,000 keeps $12,105, which is 40.4 percent. The care is a fixed cost and the paycheck is the variable, so the lower the second paycheck, the smaller the share that survives, and the $30,000 earner keeps barely two-fifths of the gross before the income tax is even counted, which is the arithmetic that makes some parents ask whether the second job is worth it, and the answer is that it depends on the paycheck, and on the care, and on the tax, and on what the years after the care are worth.

Second income	Payroll tax (7.65%)	Child care (1 infant)	Kept, before income tax	Kept, share
$50,000	$3,825	$15,600	$30,575	61.2%
$40,000	$3,060	$15,600	$21,340	53.3%
$30,000	$2,295	$15,600	$12,105	40.4%

The income tax is the third line, and it is the line that varies most, because the second income stacks on top of the first and is taxed at the household's marginal rate. A household in the 22 percent bracket pays $11,000 of federal income tax on a $50,000 second income, before the standard deduction and any credits, which leaves $19,575 after the care, the payroll tax, and the federal income tax, and which is 39.1 percent of the gross. The same household at the $40,000 second income pays $8,800 of federal income tax at 22 percent, which leaves $12,540, or 31.4 percent. The standard deduction shelters part of the second income, and the Child and Dependent Care Credit and the Dependent Care FSA return part of the care, and the exact figure depends on the household, but the shape is the same: the second paycheck is taxed at the marginal rate, the care is a fixed cost, and the kept share falls as the paycheck falls. The calculator on this site prices the care and the FSA saving; the income-tax side is priced by the salary tax calculator on this site, which runs the 2026 federal brackets.

Two children, and the number that flips

Two children change the question, because the care doubles and the paycheck does not. Two infants in full-time center care cost $31,200 a year, and the $50,000 second earner keeps $50,000 minus $31,200 minus $3,825, which is $14,975 before income tax, or 29.9 percent of the gross, and after the federal income tax at 22 percent, $3,975, or 8.0 percent. The $40,000 second earner with two children keeps $5,140 before income tax, or 12.8 percent, and after the federal income tax at 22 percent, the kept amount is negative, which is the number that flips the question: at $40,000 with two infants in center care, the second job costs the household money after tax, unless the FSA and the credit return enough to cover the gap. The FSA saves $1,650 at 22 percent plus $574 in payroll tax, and the credit pays up to $3,000 for two or more children at the 50 percent top rate, though the two benefits cannot be claimed on the same dollars, and the household that uses both on different dollars can recover up to $4,650, which turns the $40,000 two-child case from a loss into a small gain, and which is why the tax rules are the first lever to work, not the last.

The break-even is the paycheck at which the kept amount is zero, and it is worth computing for each household, because it is the line below which the second job loses money on the year and above which it gains. Before income tax, with one infant at $15,600, the break-even second income is the income at which the paycheck minus 7.65 percent payroll tax equals $15,600, which is $16,892, because $16,892 times 0.9235 is $15,600. After federal income tax at 22 percent, the break-even is higher: the paycheck must cover the care plus the payroll tax plus the income tax, which is the paycheck times 0.7035, so the break-even is $22,175, and the FSA saving of $2,224 lowers it to about $19,014. With two infants at $31,200, the break-even before income tax is $33,785, and after federal income tax at 22 percent it is $44,350, and with the FSA and credit recovery of up to $4,650 it falls to about $37,740. The break-even is not a verdict. It is a line, and the household that earns above it gains money on the year, and the household that earns below it loses money on the year, and the household that earns just above it gains less than the career is worth, which is the next section.

What the subtraction leaves out

The subtraction leaves out the career, which is the largest item on the page and the one that does not appear in any year's numbers. A parent who leaves work for five years returns to a lower wage, a smaller retirement balance, and a slower ladder, and the labor economics literature puts the motherhood wage penalty at about 7 percent per child, lingering for years after the return, which is a cost that the year's subtraction cannot capture and that the household should count anyway. It leaves out the retirement match, because the second income that is not earned is the 401(k) contribution that is not made and the employer match that is not collected, and five years without a match at 3 percent of a $50,000 salary is $7,500 of match plus the growth on it, which is the number the retirement calculator on this site prices. It leaves out the Social Security credits, because the years without earnings are years without credits toward the benefit, and the benefit is computed on the highest 35 years, so five zero years lower the average for life. And it leaves out the second car, the commute, the work clothes, and the lunches, which the subtraction does not count and which the household pays anyway, and which run $2,000 to $5,000 a year for a commuter, which is the cost the commute calculator on this site prices at the household's miles and wage.

The new insight

The second income is worth it in the year it is earned, and it is worth far more in the years after, which is the reason the subtraction understates the case for working. The $50,000 second earner with one infant keeps $30,575 before income tax in the year, which is 61.2 percent of the gross, and which is the number the subtraction returns, and the same earner keeps the career, the match, the credits, and the wage growth, which are worth more than the $30,575 over the next decade, because the wage grows and the care falls as the child ages, and the year the child starts school is the year the $15,600 bill ends and the $50,000 paycheck continues. The household that quits for the child care years is betting that the career can be resumed at the same wage, and the evidence is that it usually cannot, by about 7 percent per child, and the household that stays is betting that the $30,575 a year is worth the juggling, and the evidence is that it usually is, because the juggling ends and the wage does not. The subtraction is the question. The career is the answer.

How to run the decision, in practice

The practical way to run the decision is to price the care, price the tax, and price the career, in that order, and to write the three numbers down, because the decision is hard to hold in the head and easy to hold on paper. Price the care with the calculator on this site, on the quote in front of you, for the number of children in care, and write the annual bill and the share of income. Price the tax with the salary tax calculator on this site, on the household income with and without the second paycheck, and write the kept amount after the care, the payroll tax, and the federal income tax, with the FSA saving and the credit counted. Price the career by asking what the second earner would make in five years if they stay, and what they would make if they return after five years out, and write the gap, which the 7 percent per child penalty frames. The household that gains money on the year and keeps the career has its answer. The household that loses money on the year and keeps the career has a harder answer, and the household that loses money on the year and gives up the career has the hardest answer of all, because it is paying twice: once in the year's subtraction, and once in the decade after. The study on this site prices the burden across 10,000 simulated families, and the median family pays 24.0 percent of its income for care, which is the context for any single household's decision: the bill is not a personal failure, it is the market, and the market is 2.5 times the affordability line.

Sources

Child Care Aware of America, Child Care in America: 2024 Affordability Analysis (center care $300 a week for an infant; national average $13,128 a year). U.S. Census Bureau, Income in the United States: 2025 (median household income $87,460 in 2025). One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21, July 4, 2025): Dependent Care FSA limit $7,500 from 2026; Child and Dependent Care Credit top rate 50 percent, expense caps $3,000 for one child and $6,000 for two or more, nonrefundable. Payroll tax rate 7.65 percent (Social Security and Medicare). Motherhood wage penalty of about 7 percent per child (Budig and England and subsequent labor economics literature). All calculator figures were computed by this site's calculator under the stated model.