Rates

[Sandbox Sally]

Wow - what is LICENSED care going for in Toronto these days cause IME licensed centre care tends to typically be $10-20 more a day than home care and if home care is going $50-60 / day no wonder centres are having to close cause who the hell could afford to be spending $80 a day or $400 a WEEK for licensed child care and have working be 'worthwhile' for the family?

You would have to be working a job that paid $30 / hour or MORE to have any income left after paying for childcare fees .... seriously a lot of women still tend to work in 'retail and service industries' where they are only making minimum wage is only what $10.25 / hour these days or maybe $12 an hour .... by the time you work a 32.5 hour week cause they never give you FULL TIME hours in those industries cause they you'd be entitled to benefits - you would be PAYING to go to work so why bother?

No offense but another reason why I could not live in TO or surrounding areas the inflated cost of living is just WHACK and the wages do not often reflect the COL ... I had friends who worked in CENTRE CARE in Missisauga and Toronto area and they onnly got paid like $0.80 an hour more than I did in KW and the housing, gas, and other cost of living was like HALF at the time ... not sure if it is still the same because KW has become a bloody extension of Toronto but still

Yeah centre care is $75 or $80 per day from what I have heard. I don't really find it any more expensive to live in Toronto than anywhere else in Canada - the groceries are the same, the gas is the same, etc. The cost to purchase a home is fairly ridiculous, but this is true of any large city in the "civilized" world, whether it be here in North America, or in England.

I disagree that you aren't paid to reflect the cost of living. I know many different types of workers, and all of them are paid more living and working here in Toronto than they are/would be in say, North Bay or any other smaller town.

ETA: Also, pretty much everyone qualifies for subsidy if they choose to go the licensed route. I know a family who made above six figures and they still qualified for a sizable amount of help for licensed care.

It's all relative, imo. We could have a larger home with a bigger yard if we moved to the burbs, but we quite like living here in the city where everything is nearby. I guess you pay for amenities and conveniences.

[Inspired by Reggio]

Y...I disagree that you aren't paid to reflect the cost of living. I know many different types of workers, and all of them are paid more living and working here in Toronto than they are/would be in say, North Bay or any other smaller town.....

Sorry I should clarify - I was speaking in terms of childcare ... the staff wages in centres in Mississauga and Toronto are not comparable to the VAST difference in fees being charged to clients ... aka for centres to be charging almost $30 a DAY more than neighboring KW is just a little shocking to me ... I know peers working in TO who are only making between $12-15 / hour which is the SAME wage as KW in fact in many cases it is LESS than centres in KW ... so since staff fees make up 80% of a centres budget and the staff are paid relatively the same in both regions .... why are the FEES so much more in TO - just boggles my mind is all?

[Cadillac]

Sorry I should clarify - I was speaking in terms of childcare ... the staff wages in centres in Mississauga and Toronto are not comparable to the VAST difference in fees being charged to clients ... aka for centres to be charging almost $30 a DAY more than neighboring KW is just a little shocking to me ... I know peers working in TO who are only making between $12-15 / hour which is the SAME wage as KW in fact in many cases it is LESS than centres in KW ... so since staff fees make up 80% of a centres budget and the staff are paid relatively the same in both regions .... why are the FEES so much more in TO - just boggles my mind is all?

Yees you are right - but you have to into consideration that insurance, taxes, rent/mortgage, hydro, and all the other extra costs of running the business outside of the home

Without charging those rates and paying the workers more the business would not be sustainable

[Inspired by Reggio]

...Without charging those rates and paying the workers more the business would not be sustainable

True ... centre care is not sustainable anyway specailly with the full day early learning coming into play taking the 4-5 year olds out of their programs ... there are too many rules that drive up the cost unnecessarily and to many middle men drawing large salaries and not providing 'direct service' to clients this is why centres are closing all across Ontario ... and TORONTO and a few other larger cities are being hardest hit from what I have read online

I know in London they have lost over 350 licensed childcare spaces in the past two years as full day early learning as been implemented at more and more schools - hate to see the full impact by 2015 ... although sad for centres it is good business for us cause those clients need care SOMEWHERE