I don’t think we, daycare providers, will ever know where all of the money went. I just know that a large chunk of people who do need relief money won’t be getting it because we don’t live in a low income ZIP Code. We are already heavily regulated and having more government involvement in our business is something that A very large chunk of childcare businesses do not want. And so getting relief money is tied to being part of more government programs is unappealing. As it is our voices are not heard with our licensing bodies, we have no say in anything, we are under valued by parents, we are under valued by society (it’s disheartening to read dcum) and so on top of all that having less of a say within our own businesses is not something that will go over well if the government is going to step in. It doesn’t take a genius to know that government money comes with government strings and red tape. |
I would imagine that there will be a lag between when parents return to in-person work and new daycares are created to meet the demand. So plan for nannies and nanny shares, people! Organize your own nanny coops! Someone could have a successful business building a website specifically to match nannies with families interesting in group care. |
+1. We have childcare right now, which I am incredibly thankful for, but there is not a day that goes by that I don't stress about it. My oldest goes to ES next year (so something different to worry about) but we have a 2yo and our daycare center has been sending signals that they are struggling big time. We moved 2yo there a few months ago to have them at the same place, but sometimes I think we made a mistake as our previous in-home provider seems to be faring much better. I hate the thought of uprooting him yet again if the center goes under or if we can't find a way to make the reduced hours work in the fall. |
I totally get the stress - we went 4 months without child care and it was horrible, I mean there was something nice about being with DD all the time but I was about to have a nervous breakdown by the time our center reopened. My shock towards parents is when they literally claim providers are taking advantage. That just leaves me speechless. |
To be fair, I don't know that it is that many posters who are saying this. I haven't heard any parent say this IRL- but then, our daycare has been fairly transparent about their troubles. If providers are not being communicative about the reasons for reduced services while charging full tuition, I could see how people might start making assumptions. |
I also just think people say things in the heat of the moment when under stress. Sometimes you are just mad. And it likely depends on the relationship with the childcare provider to begin with. I love our current PK, but I absolutely did feel "scammed" by our prior provider. I know a lot of their choices were driven by difficulties with making ends meet, but I also felt that they chose to sacrifice child safety without being transparent with parents, and transparency is a big trust thing with me. I do think in the end we all (families and providers) got screwed by the government. But some people/providers handled it well and others didn't. For all we know, some of the frustration towards a particular provider was merited. It just depends. |
At the height of covid it was all over the news. Maybe the providers thought people were paying attention to that? |
I'm not saying nobody should ever criticize their provider. Just be aware, they're NOT laughing and jumping on piles of money because they now operate for fewer hours. They're trying to comply with regulations and make ends meet. If they do that poorly, fine, but to say that they're being greedy? That's just. No. |
We love Wonders — they have a location in Chevy Chase and one in Bethesda. |
DP- well, my former family daycare provider was absolutely taking advantage of the situation (more than just the hours), and if anyone on here was grousing about them it was 100% justified. But I expect that was a rare case and not representative of the vast majority who are just trying to get by. |
What were they doing? |