In 1997, I chose to stay home after the birth of my second child because we literally could NOT afford daycare costs for a newborn and a four-year-old if I went back to work.
We live in "Microsoft Land" where just about everyone works for them, and the cost of living here is atrocious!
I was working full-time as a bookkeeper for a property management company, and if I went back to work, paid for full-time newborn care plus preschool/daycare for my 4-year-old, I would bring home about $100 a month, while letting other people raise my kids.
They had no paid maternity leave so it wasn't worth it to me to return to work. We've just lived small without some things over the last 16 years.
We live in the house I was born in and my widowed mom lives seven streets away. That's been a huge part of why we have stayed here so long, and not moved to a lower cost of living area.
I plan to return to working outside the home when my youngest heads to college.
