Childcare Vs One Income Decision Calculator

📖 Overview

This calculator frames a difficult household decision with transparent monthly math.

It compares immediate cash flow and adjusted long term impact so financial tradeoffs are visible before you commit.

Use these default and higher-pressure example inputs to explore how sensitive this calculator is before using your real numbers.

Input	Base Case	Higher Pressure Case
Higher Earner Net Monthly Income ($)	6,400	5,760
Lower Earner Net Monthly Income ($)	3,200	2,880
Monthly Childcare Cost ($)	1,800	2,160
Work Linked Monthly Costs ($)	450	540
Career Penalty Estimate (%)	12	14.4

Compares dual-income monthly net against one-income alternatives, including work-linked costs and an optional long-term earnings penalty estimate.

The Formula

Dual Net = Higher Income + Lower Income − Childcare − Work-linked Costs

Higher Income	Net monthly income of higher earner
Lower Income	Net monthly income of lower earner
Childcare	Monthly childcare spend required for dual-income setup
Work-linked Costs	Costs tied to keeping both roles active
Career Penalty	Estimated long-term monthlyized opportunity impact

💡This calculator is scenario-based. Better input quality leads to better decision quality.

⚠️This is a financial frame only. Family outcomes, stress load, health, and career trajectory can dominate pure month-to-month cash math.

Scenario	Monthly Net
Dual-income (baseline)	Higher + Lower − childcare − work costs
One-income now	Higher only
One-income adjusted	Higher − career penalty estimate

Use this tool when you need a fast decision during active planning or execution.
Use this before committing money, time, or tradeoffs that are hard to reverse.
Use this to compare options using the same assumptions across scenarios.

Results can be misleading if key inputs are missing, stale, or unrealistic.
Very small or very large values may amplify rounding effects and interpretation risk.
If assumptions change mid-decision, recalculate before acting.

💡 Run now-case and future-case to avoid short-term bias.

💡 Model childcare inflation and re-entry timing explicitly.

💡 Decide using cash flow plus non-financial constraints together.

❓ How should career penalty be estimated?

Use conservative monthlyized estimate of lost progression, wage growth, and re-entry friction.

❓ What if one-income and dual-income are close?

Then non-financial variables likely determine the better choice.