The cost of child care

Dana McAdams faced a tough decision after her son was born in March: quit her job, or put Obi in day care. If not for her employer's health care, it would have been cheaper to not work. Her preferred day care provider came with a $150 a week price tag.

She elected to keep her job. But it forced another hard realization: She and her husband would not be able to afford any more children.

"We had to decide our son would be an only child. We just can't do it. Even if I were to quit my job, my husband would have to pay for health insurance for the four of us," she said.

With the economy's downturn and the rising cost of child care, more parents are being put in tight spots. Like McAdams, some are choosing to decide their families are complete. Others are deciding to cut down on the days they use day care centers. Some have lost their jobs and have to pull their children out completely.

"Six parents had to quit because of the Thorngate layoffs," said Marilyn McFerren of Marilyn's Day Care in Cape Girardeau. But other parents have had to pick up a second shift to make ends meet, extending the time they need child care. "We've filled the spots, but we had to rearrange everything to accommodate," McFerren said.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.comHeather Pearson feeds one of the infants Friday at Christian School for the Young Years.

Just Kids in Jackson has not been as affected by area layoffs. But director Rose Kincy said the center has more part-time children than ever before. "Instead of five days, we're seeing people cut to two or three days," she said. Compounding matters is that centers are feeling the same biting effects as home-owners because of escalating cost of everyday items such as food and paper products.

Despite rising personal costs, Cindy Modglin of Kids and Kompany in Scott City has striven not to out-price parents. Her rates are low compared to county averages, but she still has had some parents decide it is more feasible for them to stay at home than send their child to day care. "We've had two or three quit their jobs to stay at home," Modglin said.

Meanwhile, demand for infant care is raging. The dichotomy is caused by a lack of infant providers, said Kristen Foltz-Schlegel, program director of Child Care Resource & Referral at Southeast Missouri State University.

"There is a real lack of infant child care. That is a crucial need," she said.

McAdams described finding an infant provider as "cutthroat." There were waiting lists at all of her top choices, and she remembers one location where a mother expecting twins paid the daily rate for two children for more than three months to hold spots.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.comBecky Stull plays with some of the toddlers at Christian School for the Young Years fitting objects into a tube on Friday, November 21, 2008.

Just Kids and the Community Day School, both in Cape Girardeau, received grants from the state in August to expand or begin offering infant care.

"We already have a waiting list five pages long," said Kara Amos of Just Kids.

Demand allows providers to charge more for infants, and rates are rising faster than care for older children. In Cape Girardeau County, the average cost for infant care in a center was $123 last year. This year, it's $138, a 12.2 percent increase.

Center care for children aged 3 to 5 rose 7.5 percent, to an average of $100, according to Karen McDougall, a referral coordinator at Child Care Resource & Referral.

In Missouri, annual fees paid to a full-time center for an infant are only slightly cheaper than the annual tuition and fees for a state college, a recent study showed.

Foltz-Schlegel worries that families may sacrifice quality for affordability. "That's the thing I think is going to be pushed to the side more. Quality should be the first thing on the list," she said.

Parent Shannon McNew debated sending her 9-month-old to a home provider but ultimately decided on the more expensive and accredited University Child Enrichment Center, where she pays $150 a week. Combined with the cost to send her 5-year-old to a separate after-school program, her child care costs are $50 shy of her monthly mortgage payment.

She was put on a lengthy waiting list, she said, before a spot opened at the university center.

Kincy is looking forward to when Just Babies opens in March, adjacent to the existing Just Kids in Cape Girardeau. It will serve 32 children aged 6-weeks to 2. Community Day School's infant rooms will largely model those at their sister school, Christian School for the Young Years, where owners strive for an organic feel.

McAdams said she "loves" her son's provider, but wishes it didn't cut so deeply into her paycheck. Now, she says, "I basically work to pay for day care, health insurance and to have money to buy diapers, wipes and other baby necessities."

lbavolek@semissourian.com

388-3627

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