No. It's the low pay

I'd also add that some of these teachers can't win with things like masking policies, which parents on either side can be pretty passionate about. We had one really nice teacher leave to be a para in the public school district in part because she was tired of being scrutinized for her choices (in this case, to not wear a mask once the center went optional). At the public schools, you don't interact with parents as much, plus the benefits are better.

Anonymous wrote:PP above, meant to clarify, parents should go to director/mgmt for real problems, like "this 10 day quarantine rule is going to make me lose my job." Not for stupid complaints like losing a sock. That should be a "suck it up" thing.

+1 Agree

As a daycare parent the notion of complaining to the director about a lost sock sounds ridiculous. And I think the pandemic really screwed up parent relationships with daycare providers in ways that makes this type of behavior more likely from the more anxious Karen types who had to drop of their child to a daycare they had never been inside and barely interacted with the teachers.

PP above, meant to clarify, parents should go to director/mgmt for real problems, like "this 10 day quarantine rule is going to make me lose my job." Not for stupid complaints like losing a sock. That should be a "suck it up" thing.

Anonymous wrote:Can we also add that kindness from parents has declined since the pandemic? Maybe all fields are seeing demanding customers but it makes it really tough to love the job when you do your best and then a parent goes to the Director complaining about their two year old's missing sock. Like do you not realize that your child takes their socks off 100 times per day!!

I'd say this along with the more challenging behaviors have me rethinking the field. Of course, financially it makes sense to leave as well.

This is true. It is so infuriating to see my fellow daycare parents antagonizing the very sweet and kind teachers. Much like if you have a problem with a regular business, take it directly to senior management who make the decisions if you have an issue (some of ours went crazy on teachers about COVID policies -- I agreed with their criticisms but really did not respect the way they delivered them -- the teachers don't make those calls).

Can we also add that kindness from parents has declined since the pandemic? Maybe all fields are seeing demanding customers but it makes it really tough to love the job when you do your best and then a parent goes to the Director complaining about their two year old's missing sock. Like do you not realize that your child takes their socks off 100 times per day!!

I'd say this along with the more challenging behaviors have me rethinking the field. Of course, financially it makes sense to leave as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Daycare really should be federally subsidized.

many of us working in the Daycare Business do not want this. Right now we are our own bosses, with our individual policies and regulations. We are licensed under the states but if we were federally subsidized that would mean another layer of rules and Licensing and requirements. As it is we are bogged down.

And many of your colleagues pay their workers less than McDonalds pays fry cooks. When you combine what middle class families can afford with state mandated ratios, that's the result. Federal subsidies could help alleviate that

Anonymous wrote:All the sweet older ladies left the industry due to COVID.

That was the biggest change we noticed pre-COVID vs post-COVID: the older women (55+) are not there anymore.

+1. Yes. And many of the younger women became nannies

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Daycare really should be federally subsidized.

many of us working in the Daycare Business do not want this. Right now we are our own bosses, with our individual policies and regulations. We are licensed under the states but if we were federally subsidized that would mean another layer of rules and Licensing and requirements. As it is we are bogged down.

Valid.

Another issue is that subsidies tend to push up the sticker price for those who are middle class and up. I love that many companies are subsidizing daycare for their employees, but it pushes up the prices for regular, full-freight families. I called Bright Horizons to see what their tuition was and I about fell out of my chair. They jack it up partly because of corporations covering part of the cost.

And, what many people who tout the European and Canadian daycare systems don't talk about: those systems often have insane waitlists and scarcity issues. In France and Germany there are wonderful subsidized creches but there can be year-long waitlists; you may have to beg for a spot.

All that being said, we desperately need some kind of safety net for childcare in this country. I am fully upper middle-class, dual 6-figure income, live in a small townhouse, and feel like we can barely afford daycare. No way we could for more than one kid. And that's in my socioeconomic bracket. Can't imagine what it's like to be a low-wage worker and have to deal with these prices.

Anonymous wrote:Daycare really should be federally subsidized.

many of us working in the Daycare Business do not want this. Right now we are our own bosses, with our individual policies and regulations. We are licensed under the states but if we were federally subsidized that would mean another layer of rules and Licensing and requirements. As it is we are bogged down.

One of Mom's caregivers works daycare for her primary job. She said the daycare teachers are leaving to work for Amazon and FedEx in the local warehouses as the pay is so much more.

Daycare really should be federally subsidized.

I don’t have any experience with the situation before but in the year we’ve been at our downtown center the turnover has been very high. The rates they charge are some of the highest but that doesn’t seem to translate to retaining staff.