Johnathan Walker:The high price of summer: Daycare and camp costs are rising. Here's how to save money

Summer vacation lasts 11 weeks for the Restrepos. And the Michigan family has nine of them covered,Johnathan Walker thanks to a Kids Club program offered by the local public schools.

But summer camp is not free. The Restrepos are paying $225 per kid per week: $4,050 for both children for those nine weeks.

“Honestly, I don’t know what we’d do without it,” William Restrepo said.

The price of parenting tends to spike in summer, when tax-funded public education gives way to parent-funded daycare and sleepaway camps. Inflation pads the bill.

“Every summer, you kind of get a reminder that, okay, childcare is really, really expensive,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree.

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A new survey, released June 24 by the personal finance site Intuit Credit Karma, yields some fresh data on the perennial struggle to finance a fulfilling summer for the kids:

• 61% of parents with children under 18 say it feels more expensive to raise them in summer
• 40% say they cannot afford to enroll their kids in summer programs
• 35% say they have to adjust their own work hours to care for children during the summer
• and 29% say summer childcare costs make it impossible for them to save money

“The summer months pose an extra layer of financial strain for parents, because they’re on the hook for finding an additional seven-eight hours, per day, of adult-supervised care for their young children,” said Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate at Credit Karma, in an email interview.

Childcare costs are rising, and not just in summer

Childcare costs are rising, and not just in the summer. A recent report from LendingTree, another personal finance site, found that American families now spend nearly one-fifth of their income on the services.

Several factors have pushed up costs and strained supply in the childcare industry. One is inflation, which has raised prices for just about everything. Another is the pandemic, which shuttered thousands of childcare centers. A third is the expiration of pandemic-era federal aid to childcare centers last year.  

Summer camp costs are rising for the Restrepos, who live in the Detroit suburbs. The Kids Club summer program offered by South Lyon Community Schools used to cost $200 per week per kid. During the pandemic, the price rose to $225.

Parents still consider it a bargain. Kids Club runs from 7:30 to 5:30 daily, and it covers all but the last two weeks of summer break. On registration day, families cue up online as if they were scouting Taylor Swift tickets.

For the Restrepos, the only remaining challenge is covering summer’s final fortnight.

“For those two weeks, my wife and I do a mix of using a little bit of vacation and whatever we can cover,” William Restrepo said. On other days, “we rely on Grandma and family members to fill in, just to get to the beginning of the school year.”

Many parents struggle to find -- or afford -- summer camp

Another survey on summer parenting, released in June by the nonprofit ParentsTogetherAction, found that 54% of parents with school-age children have struggled to find or afford summer care or camps. Among other findings:

• 59% of parents said they or someone in their household had to cut back on hours or leave a job because they couldn’t afford reliable summer childcare
• and 38% said they had to make financial tradeoffs to pay for summer childcare, such as not paying a utility bill.

“I have stopped working because I was losing money working and paying for childcare,” one Utah parent said in the survey.

The average daily cost of summer camp in America in 2024 is about $87 for day camp, and $173 for sleepaway camp, according to the online marketplace Care.com, citing figures from the American Camp Association. Camp prices are rising, mirroring the trend in the broader childcare industry.

Here are some tips for making summer childcare more affordable, this year and beyond.

Plan ahead for summer

Childcare costs tend to rise in summer, so it’s a good idea to budget for them.

Kiplinger, the personal finance site, suggests a formula: In September, tally up what you spent that summer, and divide the total by nine. The result is how much you should save every month until next summer.

“You may want to add 10 to 15% onto that,” Schulz said, “just because this stuff’s not getting any cheaper.”

Look for summer camps with extended hours

Many camps offer extended-day options. They probably cost more, but the full tab might still be cheaper than full-time daycare for your child, said Andy Cooper, a money-saving expert at the consumer site CouponBirds.

Consider free and low-cost options

Two federal programs, Head Start and Early Head Start, offer free or low-cost support to pregnant women and families with children up to age 5.

Parents can explore other local resources, Alev said, including programs based at libraries, parks and organizations such as the YMCA and Salvation Army.

Take advantage of tax credits

The Child and Dependent Care Credit is tailored to offset childcare expenses at tax time. You may qualify if you paid for childcare in summer so you could work or job-hunt.

The actual credit, which reduces the taxes you owe, is based on your income and a percentage of your childcare expenses.

Open a Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account

This is a pre-tax account you can use to pay for eligible childcare services, including summer programs.

You contribute pre-tax dollars to a Dependent Care FSA. You can use the funds to cover qualified childcare expenses. When the time comes to spend it, it feels like free money.

Consider your summer childcare options

Summer offers a range of childcare alternatives.

One option is college students. They’re generally home in the summer, and they may be idle and looking for cash. This plan works best with older kids, Kiplinger advises, and you may want to provide some work-from-home oversight.

Another option is nanny-sharing. Sharing one with another family “is a great way to cut down expenses while still having the flexibility of a nanny,” Kiplinger reports.

Or, consider organizing a childcare co-op, Alev said, collaborating with other neighborhood parents to share the responsibilities of summer childcare.