Day care now costs more than rent in 16 of America’s 100 largest metros. Lakeland isn’t there yet, but with full-day tuition averaging $1,000 to $1,500 a month per child, the numbers aren’t far off.
The staggering cost is one of the top reasons young people give for not wanting kids.
Why is child care so expensive?
Many Polk County child care centers have long wait lists of parents desperate to enroll their infants and toddlers.
In most businesses, that mismatch between supply and demand would be the perfect recipe for profit. But child care isn’t most businesses.
Local child care center directors shared six reasons why.
1) State-mandated adult-to-child ratios: Payroll is the biggest expense for most child care centers. However, operators have very little flexibility in how they allocate their staff due to strict staffing ratios.
From birth to 12 months, Florida requires one caregiver for every four children (1:4). As kids get older, the ratio changes:
- 12-24 months (1:6)
- 2-year-olds (1:11)
- 3-year-olds (1:15)
- 4/5-year-olds (1:20)
- School-age children (1:25)
Infant care costs roughly three times as much as care for 2- or 3-year-olds. But centers can’t charge three times as much, with fees already straining many families to the breaking point.
Instead, many centers don’t offer infant care.
Lakeland has 118 child care centers that serve children younger than 3, but only 88 of them (74.6%) accept infants.
The Family Worship Center Preschool at 1350 E. Main St. is an example. The new center, which opened in August, still has lots of capacity, according to director Lindsey McDowell. But it only serves children ages 2 and up.
2) Licensing and regulations: Most child care centers are licensed and inspected regularly by the Florida Department of Children and Families.
If they offer voluntary pre-kindergarten, they must meet standards set by the Florida Department of Education. Staff members must have appropriate credentials.
“It’s not something that you can just jump right into,” said Arika Marshall, co-director of Precious Children in the Highlands. “Logistically, there’s so many aspects.”
3) Insurance: Another hefty cost is liability insurance. Child care centers need to protect themselves in case something happens.
But child care centers across the country are reporting higher premiums, reduced coverage or policies being dropped altogether.
A study by the National Association for the Education of Young Children found that 93% of programs serving more than 100 children saw their insurance costs increase last year.
A recent Fast Company article called child care insurance rates “a crisis within a crisis.”
4) Location: Rent or mortgage payments are a major expense for most child care centers, but it’s not a line item where most can cut corners.
Convenience is important to parents, but so is being away from traffic, pollution and high-crime areas. Many families will drive out of their way to get to a center they feel good about, but few will trust a center located somewhere they consider unsafe.
That’s why in addition to good locations, many centers invest heavily in their landscaping, play structures, signage and furnishings.
Marshall said Precious Children’s cheerful playground is one of the first things parents see when they approach from Cleveland Heights Boulevard.
5) Inflation: Child care centers are coping with increasing costs for food, fuel, school supplies, toys, utilities and other expenses.
And Florida’s minimum wage is set to go from $13 to $14 an hour in September. That will increase payroll costs for many centers.
6) Employee recruitment and training: Turnover among child care workers is about 65% higher than in other occupations, according to a 2024 report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
The biggest reason, according to the report, is that the pay “does not provide a living wage for a single adult plus one child in any state.”
Kelly Dorfman, the other co-director of Precious Children in the Highlands, said the center used a lot of its COVID-19 relief money to give stipends to staff members, many of whom have been there for 10 years or longer.
But that kind of longevity is not common. Most centers have to invest time and money in recruiting and training new staff.
Lucila Triador, a Lakeland mom of two, said she was a bit uneasy to learn that the teachers in her 3-year-old daughter’s class were 20 and 21 years old.
Defying the economic laws of gravity
Two things usually happen when there is a lot of demand and limited supply. Existing businesses raise their prices, and new competitors jump into the market.
But the child care industry can’t easily do either.
Many parents are strained to the breaking point by the fees they’re already paying; they can’t absorb higher costs. And starting a child care center is easier said than done.
That’s why organizations including the Florida Policy Institute, Florida Chamber Foundation, MomsRising.org and others are calling on the state government to help, saying the free market alone can’t solve the problem.
LkldNow’s Insight Polk independent reporting initiative is made possible by the Community Indicators Project with funding by GiveWell Community Foundation & United Way of Central Florida. All editorial decisions are made by LkldNow.
Cindy Glover is a reporter for LkldNow, a nonprofit newsroom providing independent local news for Lakeland. Read at LkldNow.com.
