Bad economy means hard times for daycare

Posted 8 months ago

Richard Saad photo - Elizabeth Atton (left) and Helen Van Doorn are regulars at the daycare. With a tough economy, the staff are concerned about a dwindling clientele.

Richard Saad

Standard Reporter

It seems there's no business strong enough to avoid the hardships associated with a tough economy.

Whether it's massive layoffs or worse, bankruptcy, the languishing economy has hurt many businesses, especially those relying on user fees to generate income.

Such is the case for Toddle Inn Daycare, a non-profit centre for kids from preschool to six years old.

"With the recession, most of the families have lost their jobs and moved away," said Toddle Inn Daycare manager and director Roxanne Jones.

As a result, there are fewer children being taken to the daycare. Most worrisome for Jones are the unlicensed day homes in operation in Strathmore.

These homes, she says, are makeshift daycare centres that are not recognized by the government and thus not adequately suited to respond to the needs of children.

"These places are undercutting the price of quality care," said Jones.

It is becoming more apparent to both Jones and Atton that parents are taking a riskier course of action in order to save a few dollars.

"People are always asking about how much it costs and not whether we have first aid, or if we're accredited, or licensed," said Jones.

"They are only asking, 'How much do you charge?'"

"It's always about the bottom line," added Atton. Both Jones and Atton make the argument that their fees are higher for a reason: their daycare provides more security, safety, and quality than the rest.

To stay in business and remain viable, the daycare centre has been forced to cut back on its staff considerably and has given fewer hours to the staff who are still there.

Before downgrading, the daycare has always had 12 staff members. Now, there are seven.

"We've cut back as much as we possibly can because we still have to maintain the child adult ratio at all times," said Jones.

Unlike a day-home, which can house as many children as they want, with little regard for the number of adults available to supervise them, Jones said as an accredited daycare for the past 30 years, Toddle Inn has to maintain its quality.

For the last three months, it's become more apparent that there are fewer parents bringing in their children.

"There are some parents who have noticed that some of the staff is gone and that it's not as busy as it was before," said Atton.

"There are so many places that are undercutting the prices that if we increase the fees, we risk dropping more of our families."She recalled that in the past, the daycare had increased its fees when the economy was good.

Now, in a recession, because there is less demand for quality childcare, increasing the fees would undermine them further.

In a sense, there's a catch-22: by keeping the quality high, they are forced to spend more money than they get in.

But, if they cutback to remain profitable, they will be going against their mandate of professional, high-level childcare.

"We can't cut back anymore, there's nothing we can get rid of," said Atton.

The daycare will be improving their community presence to attract more parents who may be new to Strathmore and who may not realize the options available to them.

As for the philosophy of the daycare, Atton said it's very simple: to be the premiere childcare provider in Strathmore. Unfortunately, this passion drives up costs.

Because they cannot diminish quality to save money, they need outside help in the form of donations and word of mouth to keep their centre successful.