Daycare During Recesssion??

[juliebug]

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..

I am in Nebraska and having the same problems. i see new adds all the time for mom home watch your kids adds. tons and tons of unlicensed childcare's popping up right now!

[MarinaVanessa]

I've seen that around here also. The thing is that around here licensing is very strict and harsh and they look on craigslist, newspapers etc. for these people that are advertising and don't have a license and shutting them down. Here you can't watch more than one family's kids without being licensed unless they are related to you but people have lost their jobs and are desperate to find an income that they risk it.

I used to have a long waiting list but people have been laid off and lost their jobs and don't need childcare so in the last year I went from being full with a waiting list to only having one FT infant, my two part-timers have now gone to drop-in only and I lost another infant and 3yo to their grandma that couldn't find a job and her unemployment ran out. I've been advertising (website, child refferal resources, flyers, craigslist etc.) and just barely have another infant signing up but won't start until mid-September. I've even gone back to offering some weekend and evening care to try to get more clients so we'll see. Oh, and I don't have a waiting list anymore.

[DanceMom]

Thankfully I have been ok with 11 kids ( My max is 12 ) - no one has lost their jobs and have still been able to afford daycare !