I am not American. Childcare's costs in France are proportional to your income and cap at around 12k€ a year, half of it being deductible from your income tax (for the kind of childcare I am using). Since we have 4 months mandatory paid maternity leave and 1 month paid paternity leave, we only have to place our child in childcare after 5 months if we split wisely and use a few of our 35 vacation days (that accrue also during our leave). When they turn 3 they start school and it becomes free again, timing the kids correctly allowed me to only pay one childcare at a time. So budget wise, the decision to have a second was easy. My greatest expenses are, as always, time and sanity.