Anonymous wrote:I've been looking for childcare for my 3 yr old lately. What struck me is that cost is mostly dependent upon location. When I toured centers in Rockville and Bethesda, tuition was $1600-1800 for full day care. When I ventured into Wheaton and Silver Spring ( not downtown SS), centers only charged $800/month for 7-6pm.

In all cases, the centers were licensed, had long term employees, provided lunch, had large playgrounds, music as an extra, and had bright classrooms. The SS location did not have the newest little people set, but the toys were plentiful and in good shape.

If I decide to leave in Bethesda, I will not necessary want to take my child to Silver Spring daycare for many reasons. I would prefer to pay $800 extra monthly.

Also very hard to find people willing to do hard work for low wages in a high COL area.

beenar wrote:To the previous poster - I'd still be happy to talk about your experiences with daycare in the area! I am very desperately looking for sources!

Really? Have you actually done any research?

Daycare is a low profit industry. The margins for profit in infant and toddler is particularly small. It takes at least 3 people a day to staff an infant room with a 4:1 ratio.

Next add in the required square footage for centers, the licensing requirements for exits, entrances, fire codes, etc plus the fact that a center has to be located in an accessible area with a good population who needs care and the of real estate that fits all that is very limited in any given area. Add in the high rents of the closer you are to DC.

Then of course there is equipment to purchase and maintenance and upkeep of properties and those services are costly in this area also.

A large management company like Bright Horizons then has the added expense of overhead for their own buildings and corporate employees, marketing costs, etc.

I've been looking for childcare for my 3 yr old lately. What struck me is that cost is mostly dependent upon location. When I toured centers in Rockville and Bethesda, tuition was $1600-1800 for full day care. When I ventured into Wheaton and Silver Spring ( not downtown SS), centers only charged $800/month for 7-6pm.

In all cases, the centers were licensed, had long term employees, provided lunch, had large playgrounds, music as an extra, and had bright classrooms. The SS location did not have the newest little people set, but the toys were plentiful and in good shape.

beenar wrote:Hello, D.C. parents. My name is Beena and I'm working on an assignment for the Journalism Center on Children and Families at the University of Maryland (http://www.journalismcenter.org/) and I'm wondering if any of you could speak with me briefly about high costs of child care in the Washington area, and why it is so high in this metropolitan area? If so, please email me at beenareports@gmail.com.

I think the reasons for childcare being so expensive are obvious.

First, the DC/MD/NoVA area has very high costs of living, so many families require two incomes to live in the nicest areas and best school districts, which means childcare is a must.

Second, this area consists of many well-educated people in competitive careers like law, government, technology, biotech, with careers that pay a lot, so two-income families can afford expensive daycares vs. other areas when it makes more sense for a spouse who earns less to stay home.

Third, it's a very population-dense area, so there are fewer spots available for babies at these centers, meaning that the centers can charge through the nose and STILL have long waiting lists of a year or longer.

It's all about supply and demand. There aren't enough daycare spots for the infants needing them, so centers can pretty much charge what they want.

To the previous poster - I'd still be happy to talk about your experiences with daycare in the area! I am very desperately looking for sources!

beenar wrote:Hello, D.C. parents. My name is Beena and I'm working on an assignment for the Journalism Center on Children and Families at the University of Maryland (http://www.journalismcenter.org/) and I'm wondering if any of you could speak with me briefly about high costs of child care in the Washington area, and why it is so high in this metropolitan area? If so, please email me at beenareports@gmail.com.

Now see, I would help you, o student! (though my kids are in school now, so its not helpful!)

Hello, D.C. parents. My name is Beena and I'm working on an assignment for the Journalism Center on Children and Families at the University of Maryland (http://www.journalismcenter.org/) and I'm wondering if any of you could speak with me briefly about high costs of child care in the Washington area, and why it is so high in this metropolitan area? If so, please email me at beenareports@gmail.com.

Anonymous wrote:Damn, that is hardly any savings over my nanny share ...

It's not. That's why we had the nanny share. At least the infant got to stay at home during the winter.

Damn, that is hardly any savings over my nanny share ...

Anonymous wrote:My goodness, what's so special about this program that it costs so much? I know of a small immersion Chinese and Spanish day program that is also opening in January and it costs half the price! It also teaches piano with the curriculum, I think.

Can you share what program is it?

My goodness, what's so special about this program that it costs so much? I know of a small immersion Chinese and Spanish day program that is also opening in January and it costs half the price! It also teaches piano with the curriculum, I think.

For infants and toddlers, up to 9 hours a day is $2205; for 9+ hours per day the rate is $2293.

Preschool (30 months to 3 years) and pre-k (4 and 5 year olds) are $1585 for up to 9 hours and $1648 for 9+ hours.

That's straight from the info they gave my HR department.

If it's anything like the bright horizons opening up in tysons, a lot! I will post the schedule once I find it. It's over 2100 a month for infants, and goes down slightly from there.

Has anyone gotten the tuition information for this location opening in January? I'm interest in the pre k room. Thanks!