Forget about college loans.
Raising kids in the Big Apple has become so expensive that starting today, parents can take out day-care loans for toddlers!
A pilot program — the first of its kind in the country — offers low-interest loans to middle-class families with young kids.
The program, the brainchild of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, allows Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, a local credit union, to offer 6-percent-interest loans through a $300,000 city subsidy.
Families with children between the ages of 2 and 4 can get loans up to $11,000. In the first year, they'll be available to 40 eligible families.
"Early-childhood education is one of the most important investments a parent can make," Quinn said.
New York City has some of the highest child-care costs in the country, averaging $13,000 per year, according to the Center for Children's Initiatives.
Applicants must have an annual income of $80,000 to $200,000, a credit score of at least 620 and agree to attend a free financial counseling session with a Neighborhood Trust counselor.
Once parents are approved, the payments will be disbursed directly to the day-care providers.
The program also allows parents to make interest-only payments until their children reach kindergarten-eligible age.
Several parents approached by The Post said they would seriously consider it.
Natalie Bryant-Rizzieri, 34, who works part-time at a nonprofit, and her husband, a professor at LaGuardia Community College, have to stagger their schedules to make ends meet because day care is so expensive in Sunnyside, Queens.
"We've been really creative with our schedules. There's always one of us working from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. so that we only have to pay for 12 hours of child care a week," she said. But even that costs about $200 a week for her sons, Jude, 2, and Silas, 8 months.
"We'd love to be together more as a family, but we just can't afford to," Bryant-Rizzieri said.
Alysia Velez, 28, of The Bronx has been itching to get back to work as a medical assistant but can't afford day care for her three boys, ages 4, 2 and 6 months. She and her fiancé, an NYPD officer, agreed she would stay home with them to save money so they can start saving for a down payment for a home.
"We both had good jobs, but what people fail to calculate is the little bills," she said.
"I've been working since I was 14, and I'm dying to go back to work. There are also the benefits of day care for the kids — to be able to socialize with kids their own age."
Velez was quoted $1,200 a month to put her sons in day care — a figure that was laughable.
"That's rent money," she said.
bdefalco@nypost.com
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Owe, baby, NYC! Loans for day care
Dengan url
http://susuvirus.blogspot.com/2013/08/owe-baby-nyc-loans-for-day-care.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Owe, baby, NYC! Loans for day care
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Owe, baby, NYC! Loans for day care
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar