While living in the great state of Washington has many wonderful advantages, it can also be very expensive. And perhaps no one is more aware of this than single mothers. A single mother not only has to shoulder much of the day-to-day responsibilities of raising a child but also must handle a good portion of the financial duties as well.
But how much does it cost to care for an infant in Washington? Well, this depends on whether your child care is home-based or center-based. On average, home-based child care runs $9,741 while center-based care costs an average of $13,110. But perhaps the most telling statistic is mothers who use child care centers spend an average of 45.9 percent of their income to do so.
Of course, you want to do all you can to provide for your children, but this becomes extremely difficult if the cost of daycare alone eats up so much of your budget that it’s nearly impossible to cover your expenses. The fact is, one person can only do so much and everyone needs help in one area or another. And if you are a single mother, some of that help may come in the form of child support.
It is only fair that your child’s other parent make his or her support payments on time every month. If they should fail to do so, you and your children could very quickly find yourselves facing extreme financial difficulties. Therefore, if your ex has ceased making support payments, it may be time to find a legal remedy. An experienced family law attorney can advise you on the steps necessary to get the payments resumed. The attorney can also work to help ensure that the delinquent payments are brought up to date.