The Silver Lining

While laying in bed last night I was still thinking of the blog post from yesterday. You know, the article about the government implementation of full day JK/SK here in Ontario. Well, I went to sleep with that subject on my mind but awoke with an entirely different perspective. Perhaps I should have slept on the information before I blogged about it.

In my area home daycare rates are very much based on those of centre-based daycare. Generally speaking, you will find that most home daycare providers charge approximately five to seven dollars less per day then their neighbourhood centre-based daycare. And, if those who oppose the new initiative and have knowledge of the daycare industry are correct, the fees in daycare centres will ultimately skyrocket upon commencement of the new program. I think you can see where I am going with this.

Most home daycare providers have a single rate. Regardless of the age of the child, if they are coming into care after a full maternity leave home with mom they will be charged the same rate as their three, four and five year old friends. Home daycare generally operates in this financial fashion. There are the exceptions but I have found this to be the most popular rate schedule. As home daycare providers we can also agree that younger children are far more work to care for then those about to enter the public school system. The care of infants is so labour intensive that the government mandates that only three children under eighteen months of age may be cared for by one person. Hence, the higher fees associated with the care of our youngest charges.

It merits a moment of pause to reflect on the situation at hand. If centre-based care is fore casted to significantly raise their fees due to the loss of the older children they will no longer have in care then should home daycare providers follow suit? My answer is a resounding yes.

I have one fee schedule regardless of age. However, my fees do not, in any way, reflect the amount of work or cost associated with a specific age. Infants, while getting the best financial deal while in my care are far more work. Infants require more time to feed, diaper, soothe, transition, and you must not look away for a moment when an infant is in care. On the other hand are the four and five year old children who, in a financial sense, are paying more than their level of necessity requires. In my opinion, home daycare providers pay it forward. And, by that I mean that in the initial year and a half of caring for a child providers do the bulk of the work and experience the most time consuming period of that child's long term stay in care. We work hard in the beginning and expect to reap the rewards for that work when the child matures, becomes more independent and needs less assistance.

If the government makes it lucrative for parents to utilize all day care for four and five year olds for half the fees I charge then where is my incentive to take on infants at all? Where are my easy days watching the older kids run around the back yard not needing me to chase them out of the garden every five minutes or taking twenty minutes to dress them all? In short, there won't be any of those easy days any more. More work equals more pay. And I don't work because I'm bored.

Maybe I jumped the gun a little bit on the negative of this initiative. Don't get me wrong - I still disagree with ninety percent of the proposal. But if there is a silver lining in that cloud it is this; if every provider had the ability to charge an extra five to seven dollars a day per child then we could each take in one less child. Nearly the same amount of income would be earned at twenty percent less capacity. And, with every provider taking on one less child there would be more children available for those who struggle to fill their spots.

My friend Dorothy says, "Work Smarter Not Harder" all the time. Maybe she's on to something here. But I do have one last point to make. Mark your calendar. This is the day I will make a premonition. It is this:

If centre-based care facilities are mandated by the government to have no more than a 1:3 ratio for children under the age of eighteen months how long do you think it will take them to regulate every single private home daycare provider in the province of Ontario? It doesn't take a degree in rocket science to see that more providers will have a higher ratio of 'under eighteen months' aged children in care than ever before. And, if the government assumes their policies are in the best interest of children in commercial daycare why would they not extend their concern to home based daycare? I can just see it coming now.

Maybe I'm paranoid. Maybe I'm wrong. But I see this initiative as the tip of an iceberg that is going to affect all daycare - home providers included - for a very long time.


For concerns, advice or suggestions I welcome your email at judytrickett@yahoo.ca