Daycare During Recesssion??

[ohana1]

Hello, Everyone

I just wanted to see how everyone is doing during the past year with the recession
and how its effectiong your daycare business,

At first it didn't hurt us much but once the colleges started making cuts some of our teachers lost alot of hours, I have had 2 friends just close there daycare last year and one this year. Sad but for us we are very lucky right now mostly nurse's and IT parents, but don't recieve as many calls as last year it has slowed we are down about 3 kids and that dose hurt currently we have 8kids...

Just wondering what other's are experenceing:

thks
Ohana1

[My4SunshineGirlsNY]

I come from a small town and our area had some layoffs in the past year...I just got registered in Sept. and calls were VERY slow during the winter months..I had one referred and one from an ad in the paper. It has picked up in the past 2 months. I'm not sure if this is normal for my area or if it is the recession.

[gbcc]

That is normal for our area. The winter is usually slow and come March to May I get so many calls I am turning the bad seeds away and creating a waiting list! The end of summer you will get calls for school agers for before/after.

[Chickenhauler]

Not seeing so much of a decline in people needing child care, but seeing an increase in people on county assistance.

[melskids]

i'm in a small NY town also.... i just opened in July, and now am full and have a waiting list. i only credit this to the lack of quality care in the area. most daycares are a 40 minute drive away, and the centers are over priced. so lucky for me

[momma2girls]

I know in this area, many families quitting to do daycare themselves, being laid off, etc.... Two of my families were laid off last yr. themselves. I think in my area there is so much competition, let's go to someone who is $10-$15.00 cheaper per week, no contracts, etc..

[emosks]

We are pretty much full now but also have a lot of part time kids that aren't here M-F so it makes it hard to find more part timers.

[originalkat]

Our City has a population of 400,000 + people. I have been in business 3 years and over the last year had several layoffs in families I cared for. However, they were easily replaced. I just think it is a good sized city so it never seems too hard to fill a spot. I would say it takes on average 3-4 weeks to fill an open spot.

[grandmom]

The good thing about our jobs is that we may loose a family or two, but we don't loose the whole income at once. I've lost a couple families over the last 2 years. Made do with the lower income. Just this month I'm full again. Praise God.

[Childminder]

In 2009 I lost a lot of children because of unemployed parents. In the winter I always lose a couple because of seasonal work but last year was the pits. Two families moved out of state and my husband lost his job Nov 2008. He's still off. It just started picking up with construction and landscapers but those want part time because they aren't as busy as usual.

[Daycare Mommy]

As far as the daycare goes, I haven't felt anything yet. Still getting calls, I'm full, and everyone is paying on time.

[ohana1]

Anyone else

Hi,, Everyone,,,,,Thanks for your replies,, please keep updating if things change,,,Anyone else have a comment??

Ohana1
S,CALI

[ohana1]

Things are starting to pick-up.. very nice...

[Michael]

Welcome back ohana1. We likewise are seeing a rise in Daycare facility registrations for our search listings database.

[Fro]

In january of this year, in the same week, I lost 3 out of 4 of my families. The first because of layoffs, the second because of a divorce, and the third because her work cut her hours back so far she couldnt afford daycare, and had to leave her kids with their grandma (I still get them on occasion however).
I didnt advertise, except I put a notice on my web site that I had new openings, and had one new boy only a week later. Since then, I really didnt get any new kids, except for some drop ins, the rest of the spring. But then again, I didnt advertise either.
Starting this month, I have had a call almost every day. And several interviews each week. I am now full, and have had to turn down several families.
I really think that these things just happen. sometimes its the economy, sometimes its luck. That is just the nature of things. Im glad to hear that It is picking up for some of you too.