For a child to be successful, it is considered important to start education as early as possible. And, with more parents being out of the house and working, it has never been more challenging for parents to ensure that their children are getting the early education linked to going to college and succeeding later in life.
At the heart of early education are day care centers. Design to offer a safe place to learn, socialize, and engage, day care centers provide a range of benefits to kids. However, finding the right day care center can be a challenge that many parents struggle with. From finding a good price to finding a program that speaks to the age and needs of their child, day care centers can be a challenge to navigate.
With that in mind, lets take a moment to consider the pros and cons associated with building new day care centers. As the importance of day care centers become increasingly well known, new centers are opening up all over the place. Lets see why this is both a good and bad thing.
The Pros of Building Day Care Centers
1. More Options For Parents.
On the surface, building more day care centers means added benefits to the parents. By having more competition, there is a chance that prices will be lower for certain types of daycare. In addition, there may be a wider range of options that can better suit the needs of the parents. As always, increased competition means a reduction in prices, leaving many parents the freedom to pick and choose the program that is economical as well as practical. Again, the more choice there is the better the experience will typically be for parents.
2. More Inter-Daycare Competition And Increased Standards.
Having competition can help ensure that the quality of day care centers remains high. Because every day care center will be competing for kids, they will have to increase their standards to remain a viable option and continue getting business.
3. Easier To Access.
With more day care centers spread across where you live, dropping children off and picking them up is far easier. While a limited number of day care centers may result in having to drive across a city or town, having greater selection with more day care centers built means being able to choose one that works with your daily commute while still providing your child with everything he or she requires.
4. Hires More Professionals To Meet The Needs.
With increased demand for day care centers comes an increased need for professionals to watch and care for the children. Because of this, more people can get hired and support the economy where they live.
The Cons of Building Day Care Centers
1. New Day Care Centers May Not Be Proven Or Well Regulated.
When something is new, it is untested. Day care centers are no different. At best the day care center is a part of a larger chain with regulations regarding how it operates, who it hires, and the practices it follows over the course o the day. If the day care center is new, then there is relatively little to speak of regarding their overall level of care and attentiveness to the children. As a result, you may be taking a risk when using a day care center that has recently been built.
2. Having More Does Not Necessarily Mean Having Variety.
Just because you have more day care centers built does not mean you will have the variety you need to meet all of the needs of parents in the area. For example, there may be numerous day care centers for well off parents but few options for parents who are low income.
3. Individual Day Care Centers May Struggle To Stay Afloat.
With increased competition comes pressure on day care centers to stay afloat. They may have to make cuts in their budget that inadvertently affect the quality of the day care experience for your child. From having less attendees on hand to having less for children to do, these cutbacks may make using the day care service a less attractive option.
4. No Guarantee That Quality Will Increase.
Just because there is greater competition locally does not mean that the overall quality of the day care experience will increase. If a day care center is having no problems with attendance or has enough of a history in the community not to be treated by building more day care centers, then it stands to reason that the day care center will not change. In addition, day care centers that come into the community may follow the established centers as a guideline and provide less then an optimal level of day care.