Another Newbie Question - Part time vs Full time

I know there are a couple of threads regarding part time, but I have read them, and I am still fuzzy about rates/hours etc.

So:

What does everyone classify as part time? I see that Play (in another thread) has quoted anything over four hours as full time. Reason that I am asking is because I have a mother asking about Monday to Friday care from 8:30-1:30. My full day, 10 hours max a day rate for a child his age is $50 dollars (par in my neighbourhood), so what do you feel would be a fair rate for me to charge in the case that it's M-F, but only 5 hrs a day?

Any input would be appreciated. It seems I am receiving far more requests for part time care than full time, and I would like to make it worth my while, but not overcharge at the same time.

My rates are the same for 5-10 hours of care, Mon-Fri: $35. For less than 5 hours care it's $20/day. For full days, but less than 5 days a week, it's $40/day. Does that help at all?

I think of part time kids as kids who don't come 5 days a week. I.e I have kids that come only 2 days a week

I have 3 different rates for my daycare. A full day rate at $35, a half day rate (5 hours or less) at $20 and before and after school rate was $15. I am stopping BAS though.

I am pretty much the same as Emily except that I don't charge my part time parents more. My part time children still pay the $35

Thanks to both of you. Very helpful. With your guidance, I have now set my part time rates. :)

Parents need to remember that they are paying for one of my five spaces and are allowed to use up to 10 hours a day. They would be paying me the same whether they used 5 hours or 10 hours. For me part time is only some of the days of the week such as only books for M-T-W. My fee for this kind of part time is more than 3 times my normal rate to offset not always being able to find someone for the other two days.

I also look at it daily, as opposed to hourly. If they only bring their child 5 hrs a day, it still takes up a full "spot", since it's doubtful that you will have someone else fill the other 3+ hours remaining. If you are ok with that, (nice to have an earlier end of the day, I suppose) then you could knock a certain amount off the full rate. I would stress however, that if it becomes later than a 1:30 pick up, the rate would need to be re-evaluated. Sometimes parents will say "oh, I will totally be there by x oclock." But before you know it, they're pickin up 15 min later, then 30. If you discount your full time rate, then be firm about that. Or you could offer her the choice of paying the full rate (or close to it) and having the flexibility of working an extra hour or two, or not rushing home like a bat out of you-know-where.

Personnally, I set up my full day fee at 50$ a day also. But for her, I would have charged 40$ a day instead. The reason for it is that I value my time a lot. So for me, the 1h30 to 5h30 without this kid is more time for myself and my own kids.

Now of course, it depends how you value your time. Also how many kids you want. If after 1h30 you have 4 other kids than my argument does'nt make any sense ;))))

But you mentioned you're receiveing lots of part time request (same for me! and at different hours...) so maybe you can arrange to have kids coming only part time in the morning! Well think about all this!!! :)

Sarah!

I finally set my part time rates. I have decided that anything over 4.5 hours is a full day, and I charge $60 dollars per day for a full day if it's part time ($250 a week otherwise, for a full week). If it's less than 4.5 hours, I am charging $40 per day. I think this is fair to everyone.

I actually just signed on a part timer at my regular rate, because I felt like it! It was an interview for a full time spot, and while we were interviewing, I mentioned that I had a part-timer vying for my final spot because I felt like I might want to have easier weeks, and the father said that he was a paramedic on rotations, so I am getting their child for a full week every 5 weeks, with varying part time weeks inbetween. I had them sign a contract stating that I got paid for a min of 14 days a month, but I am taking a flat weekly rate that works out to 50 a day. I am happy, and so are they.

oh my goodness. It sounds like i should increase my rates by about 15 dollars a day! How do you ladies find kids for so much money? I have a hard time finding kids for 35$ a day. I would probably be waiting a year before someone would pay 50 a day. This would be ideal but seemingly impossible. Any advice? :s

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ottawadaycare

oh my goodness. It sounds like i should increase my rates by about 15 dollars a day! How do you ladies find kids for so much money? I have a hard time finding kids for 35$ a day. I would probably be waiting a year before someone would pay 50 a day. This would be ideal but seemingly impossible. Any advice? :s

---

I think this totally depends on your area you live in not only province but 'city' within that Province .... plus the competition between 'regulated care costs' and 'private home childcare costs' and availability or access to either in regards to supply and demand ~ my neighborhood the market would not bare $50 a day for HOME childcare in a PRIVATE setting without access to subsidy .... A) you can get centre care cheaper with access to subsidy where you might pay nothing for that fee OR B) if you have TWO kids you might as well hire a NANNY in your home cause it would be 'cheaper' cause you would have more tax write offs and so forth and C) there are too many 'illegal' childcare options where if push came to shove with the difference being between $50 a day or the $20 a day it is going to get much harder to find those clients willing to pay THAT much more ... I choose to keep my fees LESS than regulated programs because I do not have option of subsidy and so forth but I do charge MORE than illegal childcare programs cause I need enough revenue to keep my business viable and a fair income for myself ~ so I can attract those who can 'afford' my program without needing subsidy while still offering a program I can be proud while still making enough to make doing it worth while!!!

i live in the us so of course the $ is dif, but i chrge 5$ less for a half day than a full, and a half day is 1-4 hours...full is over that.

LOL Yeah when I posted that, I lived in Toronto. Now I live in the burbs and am charging $35 for full time and $40 for part time....makes a big diff what your location is!

Hi Reggio, what do you mean by Illegal childcare programs? How does that differ from a home based daycare? BTW I charge 40 per day and 28 for 1/2 day (up to 6 hours)

Illegal childcare providers are those who take more kids than they are allowed and can thus charge less per child and still make a living. In Ontario, we are allowed 5 daycare kids plus our own kids as a private home daycare operator...if we go over that number at any time, it is illegal, but I know that many people do it anyway.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mimi

Hi Reggio, what do you mean by Illegal childcare programs? How does that differ from a home based daycare? BTW I charge 40 per day and 28 for 1/2 day (up to 6 hours)

---