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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>How Do You Afford An Assistant?
NightOwl 03:48 PM 05-21-2014
I see lots of you who refer to having an assistant, sometimes two or three, and I'm curious. How do you afford this? I would love to have one, even just part time, but I can barely afford a substitute when I need one! I have 6 full time children @ $125 weekly. It's pretty good money, but I can't see having to pay an assistant. But I also have 4 children of my own, so maybe it's because my personal expenses may be higher? Sigh.... I dare to dream...
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permanentvacation 04:05 PM 05-21-2014
I think it depends on the daycare provider's whole picture. You have to take into account the provider's income, if they are married, their spouse's income, and their total household and daycare expenses.

When I lived in a better area, therefore made more money per child, I could afford a helper everyday from about 7am - 4pm. But now I live in a different area and make much less per child and am now a divorced single mother. I can only afford to hire my sub about one day per week for 3 hours.

When I could afford it, I made $150/baby (2 babies) and $125/2-5 yr old (6 of that age) Totaled $1,050/week from the parents plus I was on the food program and got around $200/wk from that. So I made, on my own, $1,250/week.

At that time I was married. My husband made good money. The household bills were all paid by his income, so my income was really just for whatever I wanted to spend it on. So, I hired a cleaning service to clean my house and hired a (almost) full-time daycare assistant. I also upgraded the house, put my daughter in private school, and once when my husband went on a business trip and I wasn't able to go due to taking on a new daycare child and not feeling right about going on vacation so soon, I bought an entire new living room set and painted the living room while he was gone. When he got home, he simply told me how good it looked.
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craftymissbeth 04:05 PM 05-21-2014
I'm curious about this too. I dream about hiring an assistant for mornings so they can take the older ones outside. It's so hard with infants by myself.
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llpa 04:06 PM 05-21-2014
I am curious to know this too! Glad you asked in order to have an assistant I would need more kids to pay for it. Just doesn't seem worth it. I can take up to 6 on my own if they are 3-5 yo or four infants. I can handle the 6 older dcks on my own. So why do it? IMO
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NoMoreJuice! 04:09 PM 05-21-2014
I struggled for a long time to fill all my spots, but now that I have, I am struggling to find time in my day to get anything done! I have 9 right now, plus 3 school age this summer, and I have 2 full time toddlers starting in August to replace the school agers.

Here's how my weekly budget breaks down for the summer:
1700....12 full time kids (150 a week, minus a few sibling discounts)
250......Food program money
-125....Groceries
-400....Paying my assistant $9 an hour, plus my share of Medicare/SS
Priceless...Getting dishes and vacuuming done before close
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Annalee 04:14 PM 05-21-2014
Originally Posted by Wednesday:
I see lots of you who refer to having an assistant, sometimes two or three, and I'm curious. How do you afford this? I would love to have one, even just part time, but I can barely afford a substitute when I need one! I have 6 full time children @ $125 weekly. It's pretty good money, but I can't see having to pay an assistant. But I also have 4 children of my own, so maybe it's because my personal expenses may be higher? Sigh.... I dare to dream...
I work with my mom and we are allowed 12 children per licensing standards. It just works for us i.e. expenses, work schedule, child-rearing, etc. We started the business together but if she ever retires, I will go back to 7 children which is what I will be allowed to care for alone per licensing standard. There is NO money, in my opinion, to hire 2/3 persons daily. However, I see family providers with extra employees all the time....I don't know how they do it.....
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craftymissbeth 04:16 PM 05-21-2014
Originally Posted by NoMoreJuice!:
I struggled for a long time to fill all my spots, but now that I have, I am struggling to find time in my day to get anything done! I have 9 right now, plus 3 school age this summer, and I have 2 full time toddlers starting in August to replace the school agers.

Here's how my weekly budget breaks down for the summer:
1700....12 full time kids (150 a week, minus a few sibling discounts)
250......Food program money
-125....Groceries
-400....Paying my assistant $9 an hour, plus my share of Medicare/SS
Priceless...Getting dishes and vacuuming done before close
Girl, if I was making $1700 a week in parent payments I'd be so happy right now I'm drowning because my parent income is only $970 a month! thank goodness my parents own the home I live in because I'm single and barely surviving.
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CordiallyCranberry 04:28 PM 05-21-2014
I think it depends where you live. $125 a week?! That is unheard of here. Minimum $50/per child. Then of course, sibling discounts. I do sets of siblings at $80/day.
I can afford an assistant because I make about $800/wk.
Come August, I need to hire a 2nd assistant because I will have more kids. But then, I will be making about $1200/wk.
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Unregistered 06:14 PM 05-21-2014
I'm required to have an assistant because I'm a group daycare. I gross over $2500/week and pay her $500/week.After weekly expenses and deductions I bring home$1700/week.
When I just had 6 kids I made $1100/week on my own.Sometimes I think about going back to kust six because an extra $600/week sometimes doesn't seem like much,but I like having another adult around and then I remember it's an extra $30,000 a year so yeah,it IS worth it!
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sahm1225 06:43 PM 05-21-2014
I think you do have to look at the whole picture - cost of living, payments collected per child, personal bills & expenses, etc.

I wouldn't do this job if I didn't have an assistant. I have two that work part time. I couldn't do the day to day if it was just me (I would be lonely and my poor dh would come home to Me talking his ear off!).

For my situation - in our area providers don't offer part time care (for obvious reasons!). I have 9 families enrolled and only 3 are full time. Because it's part time, I charge more for the spot and I've been lucky to have families that need opposite days. I would make more if I downsized and did it by myself, but for my mental health I won't do it.

When I started I hired an assistant from 11-2. She was a stay at home mom that wanted extra cash while her kid was in school. It was nice to have help during the day even for a few hours.
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crazydaycarelady 06:49 PM 05-21-2014
We can have 6 kids per adult, so I have 12 kids and an assistant. It is not affordable if you only have 6 kids.
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spinnymarie 07:41 PM 05-21-2014
Same here with taking 12 kids vs 6. Although in the higher income areas, $9/hr isn't as much of the daily rate as it is other areas.
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Sugar Magnolia 08:05 PM 05-21-2014
.......I'm married to my assistant
We are co owner/operators, he'd kick my butt if I called him an "assistant".
We are a center so operating overhead is high. We currently have 12 at $195 per week, No assistants right now, but have had them in the past..
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cheerfuldom 11:18 AM 05-22-2014
Many providers that have assistants, like me, use them sparingly. When I can afford it, about 8 hours a week. Sometimes it is just occasional use like 3 hours here and there for an appointment.
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Cradle2crayons 11:31 AM 05-22-2014
Originally Posted by cheerfuldom:
Many providers that have assistants, like me, use them sparingly. When I can afford it, about 8 hours a week. Sometimes it is just occasional use like 3 hours here and there for an appointment.
I'm debating on whether I want to try to hire an assistant for this summer. Just maybe for field trips or if I want to hire a cleaning lady once a week. I'm not sure yet.

I had an interview today to fill my last two spots. I had a few on the waiting list but I really wanted a sibling set. The fewer parents he better lol.

But I'd love to have an assistant.. Just to have another adult to talk to lol.
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MCC 12:45 PM 05-22-2014
I agree, it all depends on where you live. Daycare cost go up and down with cost of living, but minimum wage does not. No matter where you are, your assistant is going to expect $9-10/hour, regardless of what you're bringing in.

I live just outside Washington DC, so it's a very HCOL area, and I'm in a planned community, in one of the top school districts in the US.

I have 7 spots, I charge $300/week, no part time, no discounts. I pay my assistant $10 for 35 hours a week. I budget about $400 for taxes, SS etc, and what I pay my payroll company.

IN $2100
OUT $400
LEFT $1700
per week.

If I stayed within my ratios to do this alone, I would not be able to afford rent in my area, almost all the home daycares in my town have full time assistants b/c we need the extra spots to be able to live in this area.
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Unregistered 05:27 AM 05-26-2014
What do you do if your assistant cant work then your over ratios. Do you close? Or if they up and quit on you. What do you do?
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Play Care 05:45 AM 05-26-2014
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
What do you do if your assistant cant work then your over ratios. Do you close? Or if they up and quit on you. What do you do?
My ratios do not change because I have an assistant. I would need to upgrade to a group family license in order to have more kids. Not something I'm interested in.
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KiddieCahoots 08:52 AM 05-26-2014
I'm in the same boat Wednesday. Don't feel I can afford an assistant.

Isn't it a lot of work obtaining an assistant?
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Unregistered 11:48 AM 05-26-2014
I have a family daycare I thought maybe someday down the road I may consider going group but what do you do if they call out or dont show up to work.
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Play Care 04:08 PM 05-26-2014
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I have a family daycare I thought maybe someday down the road I may consider going group but what do you do if they call out or dont show up to work.
The group family cares around here have back up providers. Basically if one has to call out, the back up comes in and the main provider takes the day with out pay. The back ups do act as assistants - covering appointments and such.
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Play Care 04:17 PM 05-26-2014
Originally Posted by KiddieCahoots:
I'm in the same boat Wednesday. Don't feel I can afford an assistant.

Isn't it a lot of work obtaining an assistant?
I have a fantastic assistant. I only use her PT, but she is amazing.
When I think of all the school events I'd have to either miss or close for, or doctors appointments I'd not be able to get to, etc. it doesn't make sense for me to NOT have someone. I also feel it gives me a competitive edge because I have a highly qualified back up - parents are less likely to have to miss work.

I pay well because when I only offered minimum wage, I got minimum wage help. My current assistant has a BA and taught Kindergarten - and it's obvious . To be honest, having a PT assistant (even a well paid one as mine is) is maybe slightly more than the cost of having a house keeper come in once a week. And I can't leave the kids with a housekeeper so I can attend a concert at the school
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DaisyMamma 03:53 AM 05-27-2014
Originally Posted by Wednesday:
I see lots of you who refer to having an assistant, sometimes two or three, and I'm curious. How do you afford this? I would love to have one, even just part time, but I can barely afford a substitute when I need one! I have 6 full time children @ $125 weekly. It's pretty good money, but I can't see having to pay an assistant. But I also have 4 children of my own, so maybe it's because my personal expenses may be higher? Sigh.... I dare to dream...
I didn't read other replies.
I live in an area where I get $175-$225/week per child. I can only have 6 full time, but personally I find 6 to be too many, so that 6th kid pays their salary. If I lose that 6th kid I lose the assistant. However the cost of living is higher here so its all relative in regards to price per child.
So it really depends on what your expenses are for living and if you have another adult helping provide for your household income.
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