A reader writes:
I read Jonathan Cohn’s piece on daycare in the New Republic. It is rather depressing, but not totally surprising. I would argue that a big part of the problem is probably that there is not much respect and/or substantial compensation for those who work in this profession. My wife has run a daycare out of our home for about 16 years, currently taking care of four children (ages 2, 2, 4, 4) full-time (7:00 am to 4:00 pm), one child three days a week, and two kids in the morning before I drive them to their local school.
She has a Masters degree in early childhood education, and spent several years teaching kindergarten and first grade before our own children were born. She loves the kids she teaches (yes, teaches, she really gets tired of being called a babysitter). She organizes a flexible curriculum with various themes, subjects and activities, reading to the children several times a day, with pauses for comments and discussion, having them journal before nap, doing finger plays, art projects, indoor and outdoor free play (our “dining room” is filled with kids books, toys, play food, dress up clothing, etc).
She used to have the children sit on the couch with her to watch Mr. Rogers when he was still on PBS, but now doesn’t have them watch any television. She keeps daily logs on the children’s activities and achievements for parents, puts together a weekly newsletter for the families, takes periodic safety classes, buys food for and runs a daily “restaurant,” and keeps extensive and accurate records of meals served and expenses for state agencies and for annual taxes.
She was recognized for excellence by our local community childcare organization. For all this she makes (before taxes) about $28,000 dollars a year (or about 18 dollars an hour; because she cares for teacher’s kids she has a break during the summer). Based on her earlier experiences from working at a larger daycare center, she would certainly earn significantly less than this if she were just a center staff member. Fortunately, I earn enough that her income is not our main source. However, for most of those who work in larger institutionalized daycare centers there is precious little economic incentive to become a dedicated professional. Until we value children’s “first two years” and formative experiences as much as we do public education we will continue to have a minority of truly excellent daycare options.
Another reader adds:
I am taking time from my workday to respond immediately on this one, because your post may inadvertently mislead your readers on a point of critical public importance: Please do not call "daycare a disaster." Well-funded daycare is quite possibly better for children than staying at home with mom (let alone a nanny.) But it's VERY expensive. My expertise in this comes from serving on the Board of Directors of Princeton University's day care center. Princeton's center is called U.N.O.W. Day Nursery.
Each infant class had four teachers plus an aide. Each teacher was assigned two specific infants as her special charge. Naturally, there was a good deal of helping each other out, but each pair of babies bonded especially closely with one caregiver. This provided adequate care. I always said that UNOW's care was exceptional by industry standards, and also the minimum I would ever find acceptable. Two babies per teacher is actually a lot to handle — comparable to having twins. But a skilled, dedicated person can manage it, with help and support.
The intermediate classes had three teachers (plus, on occasion, an aide), for numbers of children ranging from 10 to 18. The oldest class had three full-time teachers, plus an aide, for 22 children.
Princeton University provided the building, including a huge, well-equipped outdoor play area, building insurance, all maintenance, cleaning, and a certain amount of equipment. They also subsidized the tuition on a sliding scale. Most, but not all, families were Princeton-affiliated.
The full charges per child, in 2007, were about $1,500 per month. That covered all salaries and benefits for the staff and administration (consisting of a director and an office manager), relocation and worker's comp. insurance, and some supplies. The tuition charges for the older children subsidized the care for the younger ones, since $1,500 per month does not begin to cover the cost of adequate infant care, as I explain below.
With these numbers, we were able to pay senior teachers over $40,000 per year, junior teachers from $28,000 and up, and to give everyone full health insurance and generous, paid vacation. Due to this, most of the teachers had college degrees, and there was very little turnover. Many of the teachers had started at the center as idealistic, young college graduates in the 1970s, and were still there, 40 years later. The job is stressful and exhausting, but emotionally rewarding for people who love children. Still, I thought the salary was pretty meagre for the long, caring days they put in. But by industry standards, it was princely.
In New Jersey, the state-mandated minimum staffing for a day care center is two adults for eight infants. Given the number of feedings and diaper changes tiny babies go through over the course of the day, for all practical purposes this means one woman changes diapers all day long while another feeds and cleans up after eight small babies. Meanwhile, a nursery class can be 25 children with two teachers (12:1.) And those teachers are often paid minimum wage, with no benefits, and no education or training. THAT'S a disaster. Daycare itself is not. But like anything else, quality costs money. For appropriate infant care, it costs as much as $35,000 per child per year.
Many years– when we had more than one child enrolled– my entire salary just paid for day care. And I'm a lawyer! But it was worth it, because the children were very happy and I kept my career on track. Most women in the U.S. either don't have that option, or hire a nanny, either because it's cheaper or for the snob value. Sure, a nanny is cheaper (especially for multiple children). But high-quality, high-cost group care is better. That's why it costs more.
Another reader:
I read with interest the topic of Day Care being a disaster. I'm a mother of two girls (5 and 2). We had to space out when to have the second so that both of them weren't in daycare at the same time because we couldn't afford that. I was/am thrilled with the daycares we chose for our daughters. One was in-home and then we moved a few miles away so we switched to a toddler/preschool type daycare. The in-home daycare (at an annual cost of $15,600 each (I'm not fucking kidding) kept my children engaged, learning, and clean (they would often come home having had a bath after lunch).
As a full-time working mom, having days where I didn't have to do bath-night was awesome. Now my youngest is in the toddler/preschool daycare that costs $9,360 a year and we are loving it – the social interaction, the stimulation, etc. is much more than I could ever provide at home. My older daughter is in Kindergarten at a private school (for the low bargain price of $5,400 but the Chicago public schools are shit). I'm a secretary and my husband is a project manager so it's not like we're rolling in the dough but we are able to do this, own a small house in Chicago, and budget accordingly. (Once both girls are in school together and we're paying tuition under 10K we're going to feel wealthy!)
When we were shopping around for daycares, the most prevalent thing we noticed is that you get what you pay for. Some of the daycares we visited, that were much more affordable, were awful. Dark, toys weren't engaging, low pay for teachers so the turn-around was high, etc. Running a daycare is extremely difficult and very expensive – kids break toys so who wants to buy fancy toys. And then they make a mess of everything else so it's very hard to keep everything in good shape. I thank God we're fortunate enough to afford decent care, but it's the same thing in day care as it is in life – only the privileged are among the lucky to get good services.
A final reader:
Oh boy. Daycare.
When we were looking to send our daughter to one, we searched high and low. There are some spectacularly expensive programs run by private schools and/or universities. Many of my co-workers sent their kids to these programs – at $400 a week or higher. (This is Baltimore.) These places had waiting lists, philosophies - but the cost was prohibitive.
The programs at the lower end of the spectrum – those run either in-home, or in a larger facility were more affordable, but very hit or miss. Some were over-stuffed and it appeared like our daughter may not get attention. Others looked like a fly-by-night operation. It was frustrating.
We ended up in a very good in-home daycare. It is so good I feel guilty paying what I do (I'd pay double in a heartbeat.) The woman and her mother pay close attention to the kids, spend time reading and learning every day, and always play outside when reasonable. (Also a plus – NO TV!) It is also diverse. Some kids come from single-family homes on government assistance, and others (like us) are just working parents who want the best for their kid. Many are the third or fourth kid from the same home to attend the daycare.
We are extremely fortunate – but after reading those stats you posted, I feel like we dodged a bullet.
The Dish 
