From a family’s perspective, what hours do you wish you had help for your kids with in the afternoon during the school year? How many days per week?
Example: 2x/week, 4-6pm For this hypothetical, you don’t need to try and fill out hours and find work for someone to do to increase hours. |
5X a week/ from 3 to 6 or 7 |
There are three sets of in demand hours.
The largest group needs basic supervision to get elementary kids, and most likely they need a driver. Out the door in the morning, sometimes the parents really only need 15 minutes coverage, core hour is usually 6.30-7.30 or 7-8. Afternoon pick up to the earliest a parent gets home is 2.30/3-4.30/5; most kids (with a nanny, sitter or AP) need a driver to at least one activity per week. If you add in activities for several kids and needing the extra driver all afternoon and into the evening, hours can easily extend to 7 or 8. The second group is the part-time preschool crowd. Hours are a bit longer in the morning, so about 6.30/7-8.30/9. Afternoon is the biggest issue for those parents, because while some pick ups aren’t til 2.30, others have pick up at noon. Hours for afternoon preschool are usually pick up-4.30/5. Because it’s so close to full time, preschools cancel due to weather more than public schools, and kids get sick a lot when they first start school, parents usually elect to pay for full time coverage until the youngest is in full day school. The last group is the daycare/extended care crowd. They don’t want to pay for 1-1 care in their home due to cost or being uncomfortable with a single adult being unsupervised with their kids. But their work schedule is long enough that they can’t guarantee that they will pick up on time, and sometimes they even need to leave early enough that their kids aren’t awake yet. Core hours for that crowd are usually 5-6 am and 6-7.30pm. |