How Much to Pay Childcare Provider

Updated on January 17, 2007
S.H. asks from Palatine, IL
4 answers

I am trying to find information on how much to pay my child care provider. My son is 6 months old and will be starting at a woman's home in a couple weeks. She has not done this before (she just retired from an assistant's job in a school) and does not know how much to charge either. I'm wondering what people pay weekly and also what you do when it is not a full week either for a holiday or if I keep him home for some reason. I work in a school so the general hours will be 7:30 to 4ish...

Any input would be great! Thanks!

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J.G.

answers from Chicago on

I was paying about $140 for the cheapest in home daycare and for a childcare center they would charge us about $215 a week. I'd suggest somewhere in between the two....but keep in mind if it's going to cost more for daycare than its worth to actually work than its not worth it. Good luck.

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T.S.

answers from Chicago on

Hi S.,

We would pay $278 a week for an infant at our center. I did look at an in-home place and the charge was about $200 a week. My friend in Schaumburg pays $150 per child per week at an in-home place. Another mom I know pays $175 per week if she pays cash and $200 per week if she plans to write of the daycare cost and get a form at the end of the year.

From what I understand from the in-home care is that if your child is out for a day, it's still considered a full week. Usually, if you schedule a whole week off, it should be free of charge or at least a reduced rate (we still pay 50% tuition at Kindercare). But, talk with your provider and agree on something and get it in writing to avoid any confusion later on.

T.

Good luck.

T.

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K.C.

answers from Chicago on

My son goes to an at home non-licensed day care 4 days a week. We pay a flate rate of $25 per day. If he misses one day we still pay her the full week rate, but if he misses more than 1 day we only pay for the actual days he was there. Hope this info helps.

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A.S.

answers from Chicago on

I am surprised she isn't setting the rate for you.

When my son was an infant and I checked into daycare centers, they were charging between 190-250 a week 3 years ago.

I took him instead to a woman who did daycare out of her home. She watched many other children as well but was not licensed. She had some experience and was older and had 2 grown children and she charged me 170.00 a week.... a great deal in this area! Since this woman is watching only your child though, you might consider more like a starting nanny pay (which I am not sure how much that is). I now have him (at almost 3) in a home daycare similar to a Montessori school and it is 200.00 a week.

So, I hope that gives you an idea. If you haven't looked into it, see if your school has a daycare spending account option where you can pay your daycare expenses pre tax.

Oh, and just to add, I too work at a school so the hours are comparable. I would expect the rates to be higher while they are infants, lower as they get older. Only reason mine increased is because I had such a deal at first and I chose to take him to a more expensive place because I thought it was worth it for his education and the wonderful environment there.

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