Teaching while Babysitting

This term and last term I taught two classes. Both are Tuesday-Thursday classes, to give my wife three normal workdays each week.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I teach from 8am to 10am, drive home and then drive my wife to her work, and spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon with Smiley. If not sick he starts his nap at about 2pm. A babysitter arrives at 3:30pm, and I depart to teach my second class 4pm to 6pm. I pick my wife up from work and we are home at 6:30pm.

Lately I wondered how much of my earnings for teaching that second class go to the babysitter. Here's the math...

Each class I teach pays me about $700 per month. (Both Math 20 and Math 25 are 3-credit classes. Instructors at LCC are paid by credit, based on seniority and qualifications.)

Babysitting during the afternoon class costs about $180 per month. So that is roughly 25% of my take-home pay. Keeping three-quarters of what I am otherwise paid is not so bad, especially during the rainy Winter/Spring months when Smiley really appreciates someone besides myself to play with.

In contrast, my paycheck deductions are 14% of my earnings. I do not participate in LCC's health insurance, since my wife's work already provides sufficient medical insurance. I pay LCC a minimal amount for the use of their Health Clinic and their Workers Compensation Fund. I unavoidably pay 2% of my income towards two kinds of union dues (LCCEA and OEA/NEA). There are Federal and State income tax withholdings (4.8%), and then Medicare and Social Security (6.7%).