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South Central MN | Government is a big part of the reason we are facing a massive daycare shortage around here. As I recall, several years ago a child died or was abused at a daycare in MN and legislature then went overboard with regulations and reporting and are driving in-home providers out of business. We moved back home 3 years ago and were lucky to find a spot. Since that time, at least 4 in-home daycares have shut down, leaving us with only 3 or 4 for our town for 2400 people. We have been trying to open a daycare center in our school, and we have a shortage of over 100 spaces in our town alone. People are literally planning their families around when daycare spots are available. Some providers have reservations for infants that go out 2 years. I'm not saying that we should just let anyone run a daycare, but we need to find a balance between regulating and being able to provide a much-needed service.
That being said, commercial daycare centers in our area have a razor-thin profit margin. We can't charge the rates that can be charged in the big cities because the parents don't have the income to pay those rates. They will just stay home and take care of their kids, or they will move to another area with more daycare and income opportunities. In the case of daycare, I think that properly structured and supervised subsidies could go a long way to rejuvenating smaller rural towns.
Edited by chirpfarm 3/15/2019 13:46
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Minnesota fraud investigators testify, allege $108M in taxpayer-financed child daycare fraud
