Woman Refusing To Give Brother Childcare at 'Disrespectful' Rate Backed

A woman operating an in-home daycare business has been applauded for refusing to look after her nephew at a significantly discounted rate.

Daycare does not come cheap in the U.S. today. According to a survey of 2,000 family households conducted by Care.com, the online child care marketplace, the average weekly cost of daycare in the U.S. in 2024 stood at $321.

That figure represents a 13 percent increase on the figure reported in 2023. It also puts into stark light the excellent deal one 33-year-old recently divorced mom was willing to offer her brother.

Writing in a Reddit post shared under the handle u/Select-Tart-6113, the woman explained how she operates an in-home daycare with a sister and for the past few weeks had been caring for her 10-month-old nephew "with the expectation that my brother will eventually start paying us, including back pay."

Having cared for the young child for the past two weeks for "about 4-7 hours per day" she said she had been expecting a fairly sizable payment from her brother. However, he wants to pay significantly below their standard rate.

"My brother wants me to charge only $25 per day, whereas we usually charge $60 per day," the woman wrote. Eager to reach a compromise, the woman suggested a fee of $30 a day was "reasonable" but her brother reacted with anger telling her "I am not a client, I am your brother and he is your nephew."

He reminded her of how he had been willing to help her sell her home without taking commission, and that, given the setting and "amount of work" required to look after his son, $25 an hour was "more than compensating."

Her brother tried to sell it as an "opportunity to see and build a relationship with your nephew" while getting paid and warned he could "easily" put him back in childcare full time.

She said he warned her she can either get "$400-$450 a month for seeing your nephew or if you want to be petty it can easily be $0" and he could "gladly make other arrangements" if she had an issue with his demands.

The woman was left stunned by his response, branding him "entitled and disrespectful" in expecting daycare at such a reduced rate with little room for negotiation.

Commenting on the dispute, Ranesha Especto, a licensed professional counselor with Thriveworks, a nationwide mental health company told Newsweek: "Things can always get a little blurry when mixing family and business. I wouldn't say the brother is wrong for expecting too much, but wrong in what he said."

"The compromise was evident, $30 which was half of what they usually charge," she said. "Being that the sister only asked for $5 more than what he wanted to pay was reasonable considering the accommodations required of watching a child daily, family or not."

Ultimately, when it came to fixing the issue, Especto is a firm believer in the idea that "communication is key." She said: "The brother clearly tore the sister down over them not agreeing on the price of childcare. An apology would definitely be appropriate and family therapy to look at the dynamics and to learn how to communicate effectively moving forward."

Those commenting on Reddit were similarly critical of the brother's actions. "There might be an argument for 'but it's just $5'—but that response from him? Um, no," one Redditor commented. "With this attitude of his, I think he would become more and more of a problem."

"He's not paying nearly what the other families pay, and he still wants to barter like he's buying fruit at an outdoor market, a second user wrote. "Meanwhile, there are costs still to cover, like insurance and snacks and supplies, without including labor."

A third added: "She has been more than generous with the brother, and the fact that he's grubbing for more special treatment (in a really aggressive, hostile tone no less) is pretty indefensible."

Newsweek has reached out to u/yellerjeep but was unable to verify the details of the case.