Hmmm hard call ... I personally think home childcare providers should be able to charge more simply because we have a LOWER RATIO and more personalized service as a result so what the client is getting has more value in many ways ... but centres and schools have always charged more because they are perceived to have more expenses even though those expenses might not really add value to the end users experience ~ at least IMO

The schools charge $28 a day but the person caring for those kids has 15 children to care for at a time so their revenue on that program is $420 a DAY and sorry but there is now way it costs $420 a day to staff and fund that program cause they do not even provide snacks or anything ~ whomever runs the program makes a nice profit off that program which admitted if the program is run by a non profit organization is than often used to offset the loss in infant and toddler programs those same organizations offer in their centres but still there is a huge mark up in their fees that is not directly related to the SERVICE the client is getting.

Flip side if you do the MATH on our end and you charged $28 a day for your program X 5 children under 10 you can legally have that is a whopping $140 MAX a day you make in your program ... and most home providers provide a snack and other program expenses out of that fee as well so lets argue $40 a day in expenses... lets say you are open 3 hours before and 3 hours after school for clients ... so you are working 6 hours a day as well as add an average of 2 hours a day for program prep, cleaning of the toys and playroom, shopping for program supplies and 'office work' to keep your business records up to date, advertizing, tours and interviewing to keep your spaces filled and so forth all those hours add up maybe no everyday but averaged over the year it works out to about 2 a day and honestly likely more ... so 8 hours a day with $100 left after expenses you would be making $12.5/hour on average an hour assuming you are ALWAYS full which is not typically the case so on average you would be making minimum wage ... if you charge LESS than $28 than you are making LESS than minimum wage to do this with all the responsibility and liability this job entails!

Sadly IME most clients do not want to pay a home childcare provider the SAME as they would a licensed school or centre program because they do not view the value the same way we might and think that home childcare should be 'cheaper' not realizing that results in us making less than minimum wage to give them a better service than in a centre or school