Unfortunately daycare goes by supply and demand and as long as we are competing with others for parents then we have to do what attracts them and well money talks for sure.

Having said that I raise my rates when new families start care provided I am still in line with others in my area and to a certain extent we all seem to do the same thing. I start kids as babies and keep them till school so 2 -3 years. I keep rates for families in care the same but start new families at a new rate. They then stay at that rate as long as they are with me but new ones after them would pay more. Often it is only a dollar a day more I raise the rates but $5 a week does pretty much cover expenses because so much of my stuff is repeated or reused from year to year - toys/equipment/etc.