What Summer Childcare Really Costs: Moms Share Detailed Receipts and Strategies

Each year, parents — most often mothers — spend months planning summer care: enrolling children in camps, hiring nannies, arranging grandparents' visits, or stitching together a patchwork of options and schedules. Planning can start up to a year in advance and often leaves caregivers exhausted; one mother said that after signing her kids up for multiple activities she "then signed herself up for therapy" to cope with the stress.

Summer programming for school-age children in the United States is fragmented and frequently misaligned with typical work schedules. Families may choose from private camps, YMCAs, school-district programs or church-run sessions — each with different registration windows, waitlists and policies. Demand commonly outstrips supply, and many programs do not match the standard workday, forcing parents to negotiate time off or cobble together care.

Cost is a growing barrier. Structured summer options average roughly $2,400 to $6,000 per child per summer, and a survey of 30,000 American families by the Afterschool Alliance found that only about half of children whose parents want them in structured programs are actually enrolled. For 38 percent of families who can’t enroll their children, cost is the primary obstacle; other common barriers include transportation, unavailable programs locally, program hours that don't meet parents’ needs and insufficient spaces.

Inimai Chettiar, president of the nonprofit A Better Balance, said summer planning has become part of the invisible "home admin" labor that disproportionately falls on women. She described a system built for an earlier era, not the reality of most families today where all parents often work full time.

The 19th spoke with five mothers across the country about how they piece together summer care and pay for it. These profiles illustrate the wide range of costs and strategies families use — from traveling overseas and swapping homes to relying on school-run camps, family networks and paid help.

New York City — Amanda Hambrick, Minister (4 Kids) — Total: $14,250

Amanda Hambrick runs a one-week free social-justice camp during the final week of summer when many camps close. For the rest of the eight-week season, she and her ex-husband stagger parental leave and combine paid programs, part-time daycare and a nanny to manage four children (12-year-old twins, a 10-year-old and a 3-year-old).

• Shared parental leave (each parent takes two weeks): Uses about 10 days of PTO each
• Sleepaway camp (1 week) for twins and 10-year-old: $2,000
• Day camp for twins (4 weeks at ~$800/week): $6,400
• Acting camp (2 weeks) for 10-year-old: $1,400
• Gymnastics camp (2 weeks) for 10-year-old: $1,750
• Part-time daycare for 3-year-old (4 weeks): $1,200
• Part-time nanny for pickups (4 weeks): $1,500

Total: $14,250. By New York standards Hambrick calls this relatively affordable; she reduces costs by volunteering as a camp counselor and occasionally bringing her toddler to work. She emphasized that social networks and community relationships are crucial to finding good and affordable options.

New York City — Maddy Novich, Associate Professor (3 Kids) — Total: $24,370

Maddy Novich and her husband built long summers abroad into their family routine: they enroll their kids in local camps while traveling in Europe, where sign-ups are often less competitive and sometimes cheaper than in New York. Last year, a nine-week summer overseas with three children cost about $24,370.

• Two weeks of camp in Scotland (two oldest): $2,000
• One week of camp in Amsterdam (youngest): Covered for them; typical cost ~$350/wk
• Part-time nanny: $3,000
• Flights: $5,700
• Other travel (trains, buses, rideshares): $3,500
• Hotels: $750
• Groceries: $5,600
• Eating out: $2,000
• Emergency room visit: $107
• Miscellaneous: $893
• Children’s activities: $820

Total: $24,370. Novich credits home-swapping platforms (Home Exchange) and long-term travel planning with major housing savings — she estimates about $35,000 saved on lodging last year — and notes this approach depends on flexible work schedules and advance planning.

Detroit — LaQuitta Brown, Certified Nursing Assistant (5 Kids; 2 School-Age) — Total: $1,000

Finding inclusive programming for children with disabilities is especially difficult. Last summer Brown enrolled her 8-year-old son, who has autism and ADHD, in a Detroit program tailored to children with disabilities. This year the five-week program costs roughly $700.

• Five-week inclusive camp: $700
• Extra caretaker hours in June (before camp starts): $300

Total: $1,000. Brown reduced her work hours to be available for her son and plans to pick up extra shifts to cover costs. Despite the strain, she prioritizes the program because of the positive impact it had on her son.

Long Beach, California — Claire de Leon, Communications Strategist (2 Kids) — Total: $8,892

When many local camps were full or had safety concerns, Claire de Leon leaned on a friend who lives in Belgium and arranged a housing-covered trip to Brussels. She will work remotely while her husband takes two weeks off and then host the friend’s family in California later in the summer.

• Flights to Brussels: $2,120
• Overnight train from Austria to Brussels: $400
• Five weeks of half-day camp in Long Beach: $500
• Full-time daycare for 2-year-old (summer total): $5,310
• Flights to Seattle (visit grandparents): $562

Total: $8,892. De Leon credits creativity and social networks for making the plan affordable: swapping housing and time with friends opened options she otherwise wouldn’t have considered.

Marlinton, West Virginia — Meghan Hullinger, Outreach Worker (4 Kids) — Total: $2,100–$2,550

In a rural county with only one childcare center, Hullinger relies on family, friends and a school-run free camp to cover the summer. High camp prices are out of reach — a two-week program could cost as much as $8,000 while her annual income is roughly $25,000.

• Extra groceries for summer months: $900
• Drive to Florida and back (drop off daughter): $700
• Flight to bring daughter home: $500
• Six-week school-run camp for 8-year-old: Free
• Extra daycare if needed: $450

Total: About $2,100 without extra daycare, or $2,550 with it. Hullinger described the constant patchwork required to manage three summer months: hosting many children, paying for extra groceries, and driving long distances for basic errands. She criticized policy assumptions that rely on unpaid caregiving labor.

This story was originally reported by Chabeli Carrazana for The 19th. The profiles above reflect the families’ accounts and the nonprofit Afterschool Alliance’s survey findings.