Faced with the rising cost of child care, recent toll hikes and high gas prices, a growing number of New Jersey mothers are finding out that having a job just doesn’t pay.

loading...

It’s an ongoing debate over which makes more economic sense, working and paying for child care or staying at home.

“When you add up the cost of putting let’s say two children in daycare, gas prices, tolls, meals and clothes for work, what are you really left with in the bank?” said Maury Randall, a finance Professor at Rider University.

Factor in high rent, high taxes and high unemployment in New Jersey and Randall says increasing costs are pricing many families out of the state.

“Some people are deciding it just doesn’t pay to stay here. They may have grown up here with their relatives living nearby, but everything is more expensive in New Jersey. We are a high-priced state that many households just simply cannot afford.”

The only option for many moms these days is to find a part time job that doesn’t conflict with the family’s schedule or to find work that you can do from home.

“The only saving grace for some mothers is to work at home possibly as a tutor or nanny with other children to make some money or maybe pick up a part-time job if the family can handle the mom being out of the household for a few hours.”

Labor statistics show through layoffs or voluntary exits, roughly 177,000 women left the labor force in March, the lowest level since 1993.


More From Beach Radio