U.S. childcare costs are astronomical. More families are turning to grandparents

Stacia Bourne (left) and her mother, Mary Jo Galusha, spend time with Bourne's children at Galusha's home in Newark, Delaware. Galusha, a retired schoolteacher, moved from Idaho to assist her daughter's family. With rising childcare costs in the U.S., grandparents are offering increased support. Lianne Milton for NPR hide caption

A few years ago, when Stacia Bourne and her husband would talk about having a second child, the conversation often turned to money.

"We were thinking we couldn't afford it," said Bourne, a University of Delaware psychology professor who lives in Maryland.

Their first child, George, was born in 2020 and started daycare when he was 2. "The cost for childcare for him is about the same as our mortgage," Bourne said. The prospect of taking on the expense of another child gave the couple pause when deciding whether to grow their family.

That was until Bourne's mother, Mary Jo Galusha, 67, made an offer: If Bourne wanted to have another baby, Galusha said, she'd retire and relocate from Idaho to the East Coast to help provide childcare.

Several months later, her phone rang. "I got a call that Stacia was expecting and that I better start planning on retiring," Galusha recalled with a laugh.

She retired from her job as a schoolteacher, packed up her belongings and drove cross-country in her red Volkswagen Beetle. The grandmother of five now lives in Newark, Del., and has since traded in the VW Bug for an SUV in order to fit two car seats in the back row more easily. Robin, who was born in late 2024, spends around 30 hours a week in Galusha's care while Bourne and her husband work.

"It's a joy," Galusha said. "It's like magic to watch them grow up."