I have not been doing daycare very long. My first stint was when my oldest was young (early 2000s) and now for about the past 6-7 (small closing period in there).
I think this is an interesting convo.
I have not noticed a trend as far as using full daycare hours vs keeping kids home when they are off. I've always dealt with both types of parents. All of my current families are involved parents and spend time with their children (due to my screening process, not trends). I guess my trend would be to increasingly screen for these types of families.
I see a LOT of involved fathers. No difference between then or now.
I'm not licensed so can't comment on any of that. However, I know that in my province, the trend seems to be moving towards having legally unlicensed dayhomes become registered with an agency. It isn't required. Yet.
As far as grandparents, I have seen a few parents who max out their daycare hours here and then max out grandma hours on the weekend, but have gotten better at my screening process so don't see that too much anymore. I do think that spending time with extended families is so important for all parties but I don't have any families now that take advantage of that. All of my current families have local family and grandparents usually take them one or two days a month. These are all younger grandparents who are retired, active and in good health.