How much have your rates gone up in the past 5 years ? 10 years ?

We have been open since 2003, and our rates have gone up significantly. Definitely due to inflation, but also due to the development and quality of our program. I only ask because some past clients who have older children from when we first started, are coming back with their siblings and I definitely think that they are going to be surprised that they are paying a decent amount more than they used to. Obviously everything has gone up in price, and shouldn't be unexpected but I still think it will be a bit of a shock. So I was just curious either in percentages or actual amounts - how much everyones rates have increased ?

I will go first Our rates now are 140% of what they were 10 years ago. And 125% of what they were 4 years ago.

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In 10 years I've done a lot make my daycare high quality but my price has only increased about 25%. What I have done is limited my hours to 7:30-3:30 without lowering my price and I added more paid days off so I make the same but work less. I'm now up to 16 paid days a year.

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I would take the smaller increase in price for those hours. It is a serious consideration for us at this point. Hopefully will head in that direction by only a accepting new clients within those hours.

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That's what I did. I had the majority of my clients leaving at 3:30 and then one family with three kids that was here until 5:30 but of course they were my most difficult family. I decided to term and then I only advertised for 1 year old and up and with hours from 7:30-3:30. Almost everyone arrives at 8:30 and they are all between 22 months and 2 1/2 years so it is perfect. Some of my clients don't need the entire slot but I encourage them to use it so that I don't have drop offs and pick ups throughout the day. I hope I never have to go back!

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Been in business for 17 years.

First started out-$1.50 an hour

Then $1.75 for potty trained/$2.00 diapers

Then 2.00 for potty trained/$2.25 diapers

Then 2.25 for potty trained/$2.50 for diapers

Then 2.65 for potty trained/$2.75 for diapers

Then $2.65 straight across the board

The above is all hourly

My last change was to a straight rate of $25 a day.

Its a steadier income but I do not have any "paid days" when I take off. So all in all I lose about a month of pay.

I still have my first year of doing childcare end of the year total of how much I made each month. Looking back at it, it seemed like big money and it was for that time.

If you break it down, from the time I've started to know its about .58 a year raise but since I would raise it only every so many years it was like a quarter raise when I did raise it. Funny thing though-I'm only making about $10 more a day then I was 17 years ago!

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What a great idea for a thread. I was just going over my rates this evening and was wondering about rate increases. Currently, I am between $40-60 a week cheaper than the centers in my area and my rates are based on the average of all other family DCs. If I raise my rates every year, won't I eventually reach my max? I know it seems silly to ask, but it seems like the centers haven't budged in price in at least 3 years and there's no way I could charge more than a center, right?

(Sorry for butting in on your thread, blandino)

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Wow! I never stopped to think about it till you asked this. I was kind of surprised when I did the math.

19 years
Up 180%



AND... I used to only charge when they were here.... now they pay a set weekly amount with no subtractions for their days off or for my days off-- whether for sickness or vacation. Hours-wise, that has been all over the board. Right now I'm open 10 1/2 hours a day. At times it has been more, and at times less.

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How do you find people who only work till 3:30? Even my teachers work till 4. I would love to have earlier hours, but I always seem to get 2 or 3 kids that are here till right at closing.

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I have one that picks up at noon, and some that pick up at 2pm. The rest pick up after 5pm. In my case the noon mom goes to school and gets off at that time, as for the others mom goes in to work at 3am so she goes home to get DCG (her older sister is home with her) and drops her off at 10 am (grocery store) then comes back to pick her up at 2pm (sister takes college classes). The other family DCD drops off at 8am because DCM also goes in to work at 3am and DCM picks up DCB at 2pm.

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I live in a college town so I end up with some parents who are students and it's a fairly wealthy area so I also have a couple of clients that don't have jobs but bring their children here to socialize. I also have a couple of clients that have grandparents or other family members pick up so they can have them in my program.
I have a really nice dedicated daycare space and do a lot more than the average in my area so that helps things. Most daycare homes in my area charge $150 for full time, I charge $125 for full time since I close earlier (but I have more paid days off). I originally had my tuition based on pick up time, 3:30 pick up was $125, 4:30 pick up was $140 and 5:30 pick up was $155. I found that parents would find ways to have their child picked up at 3:30 if they were going to save $25 a week and have a great daycare.
This is a recent change. I only had one family that needed me until 5:30 and they were my problem family so I let them go and started getting off earlier. I have one spot open and have realized that I will have to advertise like a madwoman if I want to keep this schedule for the long haul. So far so good!

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I haven't raised my rates in 8 years.

But, I started in the 1980s at $65 a week, and have gone up slowly. I am now at $125 a week. But, I don't give sibling discounts.

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I've increased rates 120% in 5 years.

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When I first opened I was charing about $65 less per week than I am now.

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My rates have gone up by $10 in the last 10 years. Although my rates go up $1 a week every year I don't raised my current client rates but when I get new clients I charge them the new rate. I know $1 doesn't seem like a lot but it's the same as raising my rates by $5 a week every 5 years so it works.

I know I talk about getting a new bigger home a lot (but we are so close I can taste it) but when we actually do I am hoping to find a house with either a second living room or some type of enclosed patio or large room to have dedicated daycare space. Once I have more room I am planning to incorporate a lot more of FCCERS-R standards and include a better curriculum. I have planned activities but I could do so much more if I had more space including space for storage. Once I can do that I plan on raising my rates again to match those of providers that have better curriculum which means an immediate $10 bump up in rates.

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How long ago did you open ? The family I was referring to is about $60.00 away from the tuition they paid when we first opened 10 years ago. So I'm just curious since we are talking an increase around the same amount.

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Good thread! Never thought about it til now. When I first opened 5 years ago I was 20% lower across the board for all ages. It took me a couple years to realize I was low what I offered- preschool program, dedicated space, degree and background in early childhood, etc. Now I'm on the top end of the average in my area.

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I started my first family in '92 but didn't get licensed until the next year.

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my rates haven't went up alot but i first started in 08 and charged $20 a day but only when they children were here.
in 2010 i added paid holidays and a flat weekly rate of $110 a week so while my rate didn't change i did get paid holiday and paid for day children were sick or absent
then in 2011 i raised my rates to $125 a week and that is where it has stayed.

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