Is Now the Time to Start a Home Daycare?

As we see a continued struggle within the economy, the prospect of starting a home daycare is becoming a greater reality as more mothers find themselves without a job and staying home with their children. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the number of unemployed persons decreased by 556,000 to 14.5 million in December, and the unemployment rate dropped to 9.4 percent. Over the year, these measures were down from 15.2 million and 9.9 percent, respectively. The unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 9.4 percent in December. Employment rose in leisure and hospitality and in health care but was little changed in other major industries.

With these kinds of numbers more families are finding a parent at home and the possibility of generating a secondary income from a home daycare business. American families now have another option from their home that can provide extra income.

An unemployed parent who previously earned half the household income can find some relief in providing childcare with fulltime infant care fees ranging from $4,000 to $10,000 a year and $2,000 to $8,000 a year for a school-aged child in a family child-care setting. Average weekly fees can be expected from $250 to over $500 per child per week across our nation.

Over 11 million children under the age of 5 are in some form of child care setting a portion of the week. The average pre-school aged child spends 36 hours a week in daycare or non-parental care. In a recent check of the training needed to operate a family home daycare, only 12 states required special training with most only requiring a high school diploma. Texas requires Small Family Child-care Homes, that care for 1 to 3 children, to be listed with the state. No inspections are conducted and there are no standards to meet. Small Family Child-care Homes caring for 4 to 6 children plus 6 SAC (School-Aged Children) are required to be registered and meet state requirements. Workers must be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma or equivalent. Review our Definition of Licensed Family Child Care Homes summary for more information.

Courses are available through online learning centers such as Penn Foster that can accredit when required and a certification can provide a business with an extra advantage of expertise. Most parents that choose a daycare expect caregivers to have some sort of training in providing for their children.

Property and liability protection should also be considered and it may be covered under homeowner's insurance again reducing the expense of operating your daycare. Be aware that some insurance companies may be reluctant to extend property coverage to an "at home" business. In our Daycare.com Forum, Jacky stated "Some insurance companies might have a completely opposite reaction than mine and drop you all together from their coverage even for thinking about home daycare because they feel that home daycare is too big a risk." We at Daycare.com suggests you contact your insurance agent to see if your current coverage will protect your home daycare business.

A Family Home Daycare would not only provide your family with the security of being at home it also gives you control of your child's learning, added income and also provides a much needed service within your community. As DaycareMom1998 wrote recently in a forum post "I went from a corporate job and opened my daycare 10 years ago. First, I told all my neighbors and friends about what I was planning on doing. I filled several slots using this as my neighbors already knew me and it was going to be extremely convenient for them." Parents and guardians look for childcare near their place of residence and employment but would also travel further distances in order to meet their childcare needs and expectations.

There are also many state agencies administering the Child Nutrition Programs. It's objective is to assist States, through grants-in-aid and other means, to initiate and maintain nonprofit food service programs for children, elderly or impaired adults in nonresidential day care facilities and children in emergency shelters. Eligible public and nonprofit private organizations may include day care centers, outside-school-hours care centers, settlement houses, family and group day care homes, Head Start programs, and institutions providing day care services to children with disabilities. A list of Child Nutrition Programs agencies are provided here.

Daycare.com also offers ways to promote your home daycare through our searchable national database. For a small monthly fee you reach thousands of daily visitors using the internet to search for daycare. We also suggest you use our forum in meeting others in the daycare field who provide experienced comments and posts.

Bureau of Labor Statistics

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

Childcare Workforce Statistics

Number of child care workers (excludes self-employed providers) (I) - 572,950
Number of child care workers in family child care homes (II) - 650,000
Number of child care workers who are paid relatives of the child (III) - 804,000
Number of child care workers who are paid non-relatives, but regulated (IV) - 298,000
Average earnings of child care workers (V) - $9.05per hour ($18,820 annually)
Average earnings of pre-school teachers (VI) - $12.45 per hours ($25,900 annually)
Percentage of caregivers in family child care homes who are women (VII) - 99%
Percentage of caregivers in child care centers who are women (VIII) - 97%
Number of states where teachers in child care centers do not need any training before working in a classroom (IX) - 28
Number of states where teachers in family child care homes do not need any training before working in a classroom (X) - 17

I - Derived from 2006 data collected and reported by the 2006 Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. They do not include preschool teachers and assistant teachers."
II - Center for the Child Care Workforce, Washington, D.C. Human Services Policy Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Estimating the Size and Components of the U.S. Child Care Workforce and Caregiving Population: Key Findings from the Child Care Workforce Estimate, Executive Summary. (Preliminary Report, May 2002.)
III -Ibid
IV - Ibid
V - Derived from 2006 data collected and reported by the 2006 Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. They do not include preschool teachers and assistant teachers.
VI - Ibid. Does not include special education teacher.
VII - Center for the Child Care Workforce, Washington, D.C. Human Services Policy Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Estimating the Size and Components of the U.S. Child Care Workforce and Caregiving Population: Key Findings from the Child Care Workforce Estimate, Executive Summary. (Preliminary Report, May 2002.)
VIII - Ibid
IX - National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. We Can Do Better: NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Standards and Oversight. February, 2007.
X - National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. Leaving Children to Chance: NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Standards and Oversight of Small Family Child Care Homes. February, 2008.