So sad, but so necessary.

Struggling parents pull kids from day care - Personal finance

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That is very sad.

We have friends who left their 8 yr old son home all summer while they were at work. The father came home at lunch time to feed the little boy. I can't imagine doing that. We didn't know about it until the end of summer. If they didn't live so far away, I would've been glad to watch him during the day. I felt so bad for him.

OMG...I have an 8 year old, and like you, simply couldn't imagine doing that! Wouldn't CPS have an issue with it? Poor guy!

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The state law is 12 years old. I don't feel comfortable with that either.

I'm not comfortable with that either. I drag my kids along to go to the store to buy milk, and the store is on the next street. Thats just so sad that parents have to do this.

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Honestly the only ones I feel sorry for are the single parents and the kids. Daycare is expensive but I would expect it to be because the care of our children is priceless. When I worked, dh and I worked opposite shifts so the kids wouldn't have to be in daycare. It would have been easier on us if they were in daycare but we wanted to be the ones to care for our own children.

I don't want to turn this into a debate but I have to admit I am one of those people who believes that if there is a will there is a way. I know too many people IRL who could live on one income if they made different choices. Young children shouldn't be left alone.

So agree with everything you said!

JMO, but it seems like the article is written from the viewpoint that two parents working full time days with the kids in daycare all day is the ideal. I didn't want that for my kids, so working opposite shifts or part-time around a spouse's schedule doesn't seem that bad to me.

Like a previous poster, I feel for the single parents who have to work and are finding they can't afford daycare. That's terrible and scary for the kids who are too young to be home alone.

My parents stopped paying for daycare once my older sister was 10. So from the time I was 8 and my younger sister was 6, we walked home from school, which took 45 minutes and involved crossing an active railroad line, then were home by ourselves for at least a couple of hours.

This really stinks. I have a friend who runs a day care out of her home as her only job and she has lost all but one of her day care kids due to the economy. She is now trying to find a job and there are no jobs available...not even McDonalds. She tried to get aid but was told since she does not have a husband or kids that she must fend for herself and even food banks have told her you own a house and have no kids so no food

We are blessed with more than enough so I told her to e-mail me a grocery list when ever she runs out of food and I'll pick it up for her. I think this Christmas she will be mysteriously receiving a hundred dollars or so in the mail from Santa

I forgot to add that in my small city there is no excuse to leave your kids alone. The Salvation Army offers FREE Daycare, one of the community centers provides FREE afterschool care and the YMCA offers a after school bus in 5 days a week. If you are low income your child can get the after school bus in program for FREE or for around $10-$25 per week. The daycare at the community center is FREE for all with no income requirements. Also the city provides free daycare on all days but rainy ones during the summer and the community center and Salvation Army provide care over the summer as well.

Jen