How much do you charge?

[Inspired by Reggio]

'Ontario' is not a defined enough geographic determiner because so many things go into determining childcare fees ~ heck even within my city the childcare fees range from $20-45 day depending on what part of the 'city' you live in, the demand in that area verses the amount of providers, your program, your experience and what the market will bare for each individual when taking into account all those things.

I have 4 daycares on my street alone that are vastly different ... one charges $20 a day with no contract and does the pay as you go (aka if the client does not come she does not charge) without receipts .... because she tends to attract the 'flex care' families who are attracted to the only pay for what they use she is either sitting with 1 kid some days or she is totally illegal other days with as many as 9 children I saw her out with the one day because in order to make a living she does not turn clients away if they book a day, two charges $25 a day but parents send all the food and both admit they do not do a program of any kind just 'free play' so neither has daily craft, sensory, science or other consumable expenses to incorporate into that fee ~ so basically aside from the increased cost of heat, hydro and water use that is all profit for them, another has raised her rates over the past few years and last I talked to her at the park she charges $30 a day and I currently charge $34 a day for children over 2 and $41 a day for children 'under two' ... which is a HUGE difference in my area ~ but I am still within the 'normal' for my region over all!

Compared to my competition my clients are getting a registered Early Childhood Educator with 25 years of proven experience in providing a well rounded program, my home has passed inspection to be 'with a licensed agency' when I opened so even though I am no longer with them but I have the 'records' to show that my home meets the Fire Codes and so forth, they get all the 'program experiences' they would if their child was in an expensive childcare setting including developmental screening and an authentic portfolio record of their early years but with the small personalized ratios of home childcare and the flexibility that offers for children and for way less than centre care would cost them ~ I attract clients who value those attributes and are willing to invest more in them and have no trouble maintaining a viable business plan with that fee even though it is the high end for my direct neighborhood.

As for payment for sick days or vacation .... I personally have two payment plans for my program because so many people have a hard time accepting the concept that whether you charge 'directly' for vacation and paid sick time or 'indirectly' that it is hidden in your fees either way they ARE paying for those things it is all in how the provider choose to budget

Plan A is $174 a week for over two or $184 for under two and clients are required to pay for all stats ... I take 10 vacation days and 10 personal days unpaid on that plan.

Plan B is $160 a week for over two or $170 a week for under two which is the same fee as when I opened 6 years ago ... those fees including payment for all stats, payment for 10 days of vacation and payment for 10 personal days annually ... if I were to take anything over that the clients would get the reduced daily rate of $34 for every day I went over!

But either way at the end of the tax year both plans are paying the SAME it is all in how one wants to budget ... clients on Plan A it is up to ME put the increased payment aside for vacation/personal closures and clients on Plan B just pay the same consistent fee all year long and if they leave with 'vacation/personal time owing' to me it comes off their security deposit and they pay whatever difference is owing for their last two weeks of care ... both plans leave me 'comparative' to others in my area with neither putting me over the 'high end' of $45 that some areas of town are charging.

I honestly could not afford to have 'lower' fees and do this as a viable business plan ... after my program expenses I am only earning roughly $100 a day and while that sounds awesome on face value the fact is that is less than minimum wage considering that with program prep, administration things like advertizing and interviewing, grocery shopping I work way more than 10 hours a day I am 'open' for business!

[Sandbox Sally]

'Ontario' is not a defined enough geographic determiner because so many things go into determining childcare fees ~ heck even within my city the childcare fees range from $20-45 day depending on what part of the 'city' you live in, the demand in that area verses the amount of providers

Just this bit, but YEAH, so true. I charged $55 per day in Toronto, and some in my neighbourhood were charging up to $70 for home daycare, and everyone was full. Daycare is hard to get in Toronto. This past summer we moved to the suburbs. I'm still in the GTA, but I now charge $35 per day, and I STILL get parents trying to haggle with me.

[ECE53]

I charged 49.50/day and had 3weeks paid vacation, paid stats and 5 paid sick days and two paid personnal days. It took me a few years to get there.