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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Has The Recession Hurt Your Business In Any Way?
Country Kids 06:54 AM 11-17-2011
I was wondering how many here has had their childcare hurt by the recession. In less kids, less pay, more hours to accomodate clients, etc. I was just wondering because prices for childcare seems to be all over the place and some people struggle to get clients and others don't.

What is your story with the recession?
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sharlan 07:01 AM 11-17-2011
Definitely hurting the providers in this area. I only advertised a couple of times in 20 plus years. I was always full and had people asking for care that I turned down.

Now, I've been advertising for a year, spending $$$$, and have only picked up 2 part timers. None of the providers that I've spoken to are at capacity. Most of them only have 2 or 3 kids.
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lucky 07:01 AM 11-17-2011
I have to honestly say no at this point I am full with a waiting list , get calls weekly, and just raised my rates. I do know that providers just a town away don't have it so good though. I personally think there are just too many providers in the area though hardly any ever have infant openings.
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mismatchedsocks 07:03 AM 11-17-2011
I havent changed my prices/policies yet, and so far if I have lost a child due to job loss I filled the spot.

EXCEPT for one family. They had a 2 year old ( here since birth ) and mom was due in December. He has been laid off for a month now. I let them off without a 2 week notice, and gave them 2 weeks to find a job, without filling their spot. I have one child who is just here until the baby is born, so I had spots for both boys. So now I have one opening, but my waiting list people had all found some other solution. Back to advertising.
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Cat Herder 07:03 AM 11-17-2011
No change here, really, but our area has been this way since the 80's when they shut down most of the mills, plants and factories.

It is like the rest of the country just came down to where we are...

On the other hand, the "Urban Sprawl" folks that moved out here in droves to the pop-up "McMansion" subdivisions (no money down, balloon loans, built on repossessed farm land) have been hit HARD.

I think those are all the "SAHM looking to keep a couple kids" in our local paper.

They are shutting down public transportation routes, into the city for work, out here left and right....
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hoopinglady 07:05 AM 11-17-2011
There are a LOT of providers in my area. I struggle and my prices are far too low.

There are a few higher (fairly) priced home daycares in the more expensive areas of my city but typically it's right around what I charge or sometimes even lower. It's crazy.

It seems like there's a pretty diverse income range in my immediate area.
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AfterSchoolMom 07:05 AM 11-17-2011
It's definitely hurt me. I STILL have no DCK's. I've had two interviews since June.

I've notice that the rates in my area have dropped to ricidulous levels. That has been happening for a couple of years not, but it's at an all time low now. I honestly don't know how even providers who are full are making it!
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dave4him 07:08 AM 11-17-2011
The recession is forcing a lot of people back to school, which sometimes means night classes, so there is a need for daycares outside of the normal time frames. The DHS lady here said there is a major need for more daycares in the area and thanked me for starting one. Hopefully i can get full when i start
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youretooloud 07:19 AM 11-17-2011
I haven't raised my rates in over 6 years.

I have a hard time getting anybody except teacher's kids, and college student's kids.
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Zoe 07:27 AM 11-17-2011
I'm still new to the field so the recession is the only thing I know. I'd love to have full time families (I only have one, an infant starting in January), but I realize that that is how things are now. People find families/friends to watch their kids for free some days then bring them to me some days. Stinks but that's how it is.
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sharlan 07:27 AM 11-17-2011
5 yrs ago, I charged $90 a week, which was really cheap. All of my families had been with me 6 or more years. I called around a year ago and everyone told me that they were charging $150 - $175 a week. I saw an ad yesterday for $65 a week and 24/7 care.
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wdmmom 07:30 AM 11-17-2011
No change here. I was able to do a price increase in October and no issue. Same families, same jobs, same income.
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sassysue 09:12 AM 11-17-2011
I haven't noticed a decrease in the need for child care.
However,I never had any part time kids in my care.Now I have 6 part time kids whose grandparents take care of them twice a week to save in daycare costs.It actually benefits me because I charge a lot more per day than full time.
So instead of 185,week for full time they pay $40/day,or $120/week.
I've been fortunate enough to be able to fill all the spots,otherwise I don't think I'd be too happy about part time.
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morgan24 09:41 AM 11-17-2011
It's really hit my area. I have all part time and only charge hourly. A couple of years ago I had all full time and was paid salary. They all aged out for school and the only one who stayed was part time and I haven't had a full time call since. I hope things go back to the way they were.
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erinalexmom 10:51 AM 11-17-2011
I am full but its because our local factory has had no layoffs and 3 daycares in town have went out of business in the last 6 months. So I am about the only game in town
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Kaddidle Care 11:13 AM 11-17-2011
We're down about 50% and I heard another Center in our area is the same.

Sign of the times. Guess we'll not be getting any raises this year - I'll be happy if I have a job by January.
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WImom 11:19 AM 11-17-2011
Yes, but I'm not sure if it's because I'm only open 7-4:30 and ages 2-5y or not. I have 7 (1 spot to fill) so I can't complain but it does worry me that it's been since July that I've been trying to fill this spot and I've had one interview.

Next year I lose 1 to K5 and maybe 2 (to all day K4 - parents may keep them here though, they aren't sure yet) so I'm hoping I don't have to take younger kids or stay open later. It's a year away but I'm still worried about it.
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misspollywog 11:29 AM 11-17-2011
Being picky has hurt me more than the recession!

I've been open just over one month and already mutually termed one VERY part timer whose mom wanted her to have more dc buddies (yet knew I was brand spanking new when she started her and apparently didn't realize that filling slots takes TIME - ugh - valuable lesson learned there!) and I had 3 pt'ers who were due to start a couple of weeks ago but after being yanked around by the dcm and then told they had recently had impetigo and lice I decided erm, NO!

They were sorta termed preemptively.

So yeah, I've got a few spots open and I am reserving them for just the right families. If it takes a year or more to fill them, I don't really care.

Luckily the hubs makes a great living and I'm not in this for the money (not that I wouldn't mind some lol) anyway.
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MyAngels 12:05 PM 11-17-2011
It hasn't affected me personally, but I have noticed that two long time centers here have sent out notices that they are closing up shop. I don't have any idea of it's due to the recession or lack of children, though.

We live in what appears to be recession proof area. Housing prices and jobs have remained stable here for some reason.
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Abigail 12:22 PM 11-17-2011
I'm not sure about my area. I was excited to hear a medium-sized daycare of about 45 or more kids closed with a week's notice the week before I was advertising. Sadly, I think they all found fast back-up care because none of my calls came from my business cards from Halloween 8(

I advertised online and got a few emails and calls, BUT most said they were "just looking" and didn't need anything immediately because they have family, yet didn't want to schedule an interview. Why waste my time? Others said they would get back to me, but never did. I know I should call them back to double-check, but I really want a fresh start and don't want to deal with parents who rely on me to do everything. KWIM?

So, I'm thinking it's about 1 out of 10 calls that will actually interview. LOL. I guess I just need to get more established. I'm picky too though, I don't want to be open until 5, so I'm really trying to get those who work an early shift and can be done before 5. Two of my seven-child-limit will always be gone before 4 pm because of mom being a school teacher. LOVE IT.

No kids start here for another month so I will have very little finances to work with for awhile. I have plenty of time to "plan" things though! Sadly I think I will have to skip Thanksgiving Day projects because I will not have any kids enrolled this week. I will just start working on a December theme. Too bad I hand made all this FALL themed projects that are going to be hung up tonight, just to take them down in a few weeks with no kids here to see them. Does it look bad to have put all the work into the season with no kids enrolled yet giving tours or does it look good to parents?

Sorry to ramble on! I think that the recession hasn't affected us too terribly bad here, but out town is a decent size.
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beachgrl 12:39 PM 11-17-2011
I would say it has around here..I just knew I'd be full and I'm not even at half capacity yet. A long term provider in the area has always been full bc everyone knows about her but she had a couple openings lastbi heard. I have people call and get info who shopping around, every once in awhile one of those will come for a visit and only had a couple sign up since staring in August..if can't get at least three kids by the new year I may have to closenit down and go back to work outside the home which I'd really rather not do so I am staying focused and positive as much as I can!
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sharlan 12:59 PM 11-17-2011
I know that I'm being a bit picky.

I had a call a few weeks ago for a kindergartener. I declined because I like to have one day a week to go places without having to rush home.

I had a drop in call for last Friday when I was closed.

I had a call a few weeks ago for 3 SA's. 3 1/2 hrs 2 days a week and 6 the other. I quoted $160 for pick up at school 10 miles away, homework, snack, AND dinner 3 nights a week. YMCA charged her $90 for everything but dinner.

The rest of my calls have gone like this, "Hello" "How much do you charge?" "What hours do you need?" "6-6" "I charge $*** per week. Would you like to schedule an interview?" "No." Click
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misspollywog 02:34 PM 11-17-2011
Originally Posted by sharlan:

The rest of my calls have gone like this, "Hello" "How much do you charge?" "What hours do you need?" "6-6" "I charge $*** per week. Would you like to schedule an interview?" "No." Click


At least yours open with HELLO! The last one I took just opened with "how much do you charge?". In a really obnoxious voice, too!

I should've said "well, baby, it depends on which CL ad you're responding to..."


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SimpleMom 02:41 PM 11-17-2011
Nope, not here. Thank God for that one
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GrannyJ 02:53 PM 11-17-2011
It hit me hard! I lost all but one last year because of the subsidized program closing. Another daycare in my area had to close so I got there 2. I have advertised like crazy. I'm not getting any calls. I need to move out of this state!
I was always full and with a waiting list, it is really bad here.
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Childminder 05:42 PM 11-17-2011
Originally Posted by :
I was wondering how many here has had their childcare hurt by the recession. In less kids, less pay, more hours to accommodate clients, etc. I was just wondering because prices for childcare seems to be all over the place and some people struggle to get clients and others don't.
All of that here. Daycares are closing, those licensed for 12 are only getting about 6 kids and letting the assistants go, I've been down about 1/3 for 3 years and hubby lost his job 3 years ago. I just read on the MI.gov site that for every four children in MI needing childcare there are six spots. People are moving out of state or a family member is laid off and watching the children.
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Sugar Magnolia 10:48 AM 11-18-2011
It hasn't hurt my enrollment or my rates, but the real estate crash here in SW Florida has totally devalued the value of my school building. Like by half. Its horrible. BUT, with that said, if it weren't for the housing bubble of 2005, I would never have been able to re-finance my regular house to buy the school building. So a bit of pro and con there.
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sahm2three 01:50 PM 11-18-2011
Originally Posted by Country Kids:
I was wondering how many here has had their childcare hurt by the recession. In less kids, less pay, more hours to accomodate clients, etc. I was just wondering because prices for childcare seems to be all over the place and some people struggle to get clients and others don't.

What is your story with the recession?
I am full and also have a waiting list, so that part is good. The only thing I can think of is that parents are "forgetting" to pay me. I think I put an end to that for now, but if I hadn't told them all that I would enforce my late fee without question they would continue to try it.
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