21 Daycare Price Questions To Ask Your Daycare Provider

In this post, I share 21 questions to ask daycare providers about their daycare prices.

Let’s jump right in.

Do you provide government subsidized child care?

Government subsidized or government funded child care is child care whose costs are paid for by the government either in part or in full.

Daycares that provide government subsidized or government funded child care typically charge parents the lowest daycare rates since the government assists parents in paying daycare attendance and enrollment costs.

Government subsidized child care also makes child care accessible for lower income families that otherwise would not be able to afford daycare prices.

Follow up questions include:

1. What are the eligibility criteria for accessing government-subsidized child care?
2. What is the application process and what documentation are you required to provide?
3. Is government support provided based on family income?
4. Does government funding cover the cost of meals and trips?
5. Is there a limited number of spots available for government-subsidized child care?

Read: What to pack for daycare (downloadable PDF checklist included)

What are your daycare rates?

Daycares often charge different prices for infants, toddlers, preschool, and school age children.

Infant fees are typically the most expensive and daycare prices tend to get lower for older age groups.

Follow up questions include:

1. What is the age limit for infants, toddlers, and preschool children?
2. Do you offer sibling discounts?
3. Do you have special rates for after hours care, night care, or weekend care?

Do you charge annual or one-time registration fees?

Daycare providers at times charge one-time or annual registration fees in addition to daycare tuition and attendance fees.

Registration fees typically go towards daycare administrative costs, maintenance costs, and purchasing supplies and equipment for your child. However, they also act as a supplementary income source for daycare providers.

Registration fees often range from the tens to a few hundred dollars.

Daycares that charge registration fees typically charge anywhere from $10 to $200 on either a one-time or annual basis.

Asking whether or not a daycare charges registration fees enables you to more accurately:

• Compare the initial enrollment cost of child care between different daycare providers
• Budget for future child care costs
• Determine whether or not you can afford a particular daycare provider

Do you charge a fee to join your waitlist?

Waitlist fees are fees charged by a daycare provider in order to add your child’s name to a daycare’s waitlist and be notified when a spot becomes available in that daycare.

Although waitlist fees have fallen out of favour in some areas, daycares at times charge a fee to add your child to their waitlist.

Daycare providers charge waitlist fees for several reasons:

1. Waiting list fees discourage parents that are not genuinely committed to enrolling their child with a particular daycare from joining the daycare waitlist.
2. Waitlist fees typically go towards the administrative cost of managing a daycares waiting list.
3. Waitlist fees are a supplementary income source for daycare providers.

In some cases, waiting list fees go towards your child’s daycare enrollment fees if your child eventually enrolls in a given daycare.

Can I make flexible or installment payments?

Daycare providers at times offer a variety of payment plans to make paying for child care more convenient for you.

Examples of split payment or installment payment plans include:

• Bi-weekly payments
• Weekly payments
• Daily payments
• Custom payment plans

Flexible payment options make child care more accessible for financially constrained families by providing the following benefits:

• Installment payments allow parents to receive access to child care without paying the full daycare enrollment cost upfront.
• Families at times incur unexpected bills such as sudden medical costs that leave the family unable to pay their daycare fees. In such events, flexible payments ease the burden of paying for daycare.
• Flexible payments enable families to prioritize and meet critical debt obligations without losing access to child care.

Asking whether a daycare offers flexible payments enables you to more effectively evaluate how the cost of daycare will affect your other monthly payments.

Do you provide interest-free installment payments?

Daycare providers may charge interest in exchange for providing the convenience of installment payments in order to:

1. Incentivize parents to pay their daycare fees in full
2. Minimize their risk exposure to late installment payments

For example, a daycare that charges $800 for daycare enrollment may give you the option to make three $280 payments. 

In the above example, the split payments or installment payments add up to a total of $840.

Therefore, parents that pay installment payments in the above daycare pay $40 more than parents who pay their daycare fees in full.

Although installment fees at times come with interest, installment fees or split payments enable your child to continue attending daycare in times of financial difficulty.

What penalty fee do you charge for late payments?

Daycares often charge a penalty fee for late daycare payments. Late payment fees are not to be confused with “late fees”.

Late fees are penalty fees charged when a parent delays to pick up their child from daycare.

Delayed or late payment fees on the other hand are penalty fees charged when a parent delays to make a daycare payment.

Having a discussion with your daycare provider about late payment fees is essential if your daycare requires payment on the first day of each month but you receive your salary after the first day of the month due to payroll processing times.

Late payment fees are often charged by the day and can add up quite quickly.

Do you charge a fee for late pickups?

Late fees are penalty fees charged when a parent delays to pick up their child from daycare.

Reasons that you might be late to pick up your child from daycare include:

• Getting stuck in traffic
• Vehicle breakdowns
• Getting stuck at work
• Personal emergencies and obligations

Late pickup fees are often charged per minute that you are late to pick up your child.

Therefore, it is essential to ask whether or not your daycare charges late fees and what the late fee is.

Do you charge a replacement fee for broken toys?

Children damage and break daycare toys from time to time. This can at times be attributed to normal wear and tear of the toys due to repeated use.

However, children may also break toys due to improper use. Examples include: jumping on them, banging them inappropriately, throwing them, etc.

Asking your daycare provider if they charge a replacement fee for broken toys lets you know ahead of time if you will be held liable for toy replacement expenses if your child damages a toy.

If your daycare provider holds you responsible for replacing broken or damaged toys, ask if you can replace a toy rather than pay a fee. Replacing a toy enables you to buy the toy second hand which is cheaper than paying for the daycare to buy a brand new toy.

Are meals included in daycare prices?

Most child care providers prepare and provide meals as part of their child care package.

However, meals are not always included in standard daycare prices especially in regions in which daycares are not mandated to provide meals according to local child care regulations.

In such cases, daycare providers have base daycare rates for daycare enrollment but charge a separate optional add-on fee to prepare meals for your child.

When planning what to pack for daycare as a parent, you can always prepare and pack meals for your child.

However, daycare-prepared meals are a huge convenience that saves you time and reduces your workload as a parent.

Asking whether meals are included in daycare prices enables you to weigh the cost of paying add-on meal preparation fees vs spending the time and effort to prepare and pack meals for your child.

What payment methods do you accept?

Daycares that accept credit card payments generally make enrollment payments more convenient for families.

However, not all daycares have the necessary technology to accept credit or debit card payments. 

Additionally, some daycares only accept cash, cheque, or bank transfer payments to avoid losing money through payment processing fees.

If you rely on credit to make your daycare payments, then the payment methods that a daycare provides may be an important factor in determining which daycare you enroll your child with.

Do you provide receipts for each daycare payment?

Although most daycare providers provide receipts, some provide:

1. Annual receipts only
2. Individual receipts for every daycare payment
3. Both individual receipts and an annual receipt

If your daycare costs are reimbursed by your employer, former spouse, a government body, or a non-profit agency, then whether or not a daycare provides individual receipts for each payment may be an important factor in determining which daycare you enroll your child with.

Is payment required before or after service has been provided?

Some daycare providers require payment at the start of the month. Other daycare providers bill you for your child’s daycare attendance at the end of the month.

Knowing when your daycare bills are due is an essential part of your monthly household budgeting process.

Additionally, some daycare billing schedules may not be compatible with your current payroll schedule.

In such cases, comparing when different daycare providers require payment may play an essential role in choosing which daycare provider to enroll your child with.

Do you provide refunds for days that my child does not attend daycare?

Some daycare providers operate more like a school or university in that you will not be refunded for days that your child does not attend daycare.

Other daycare providers provide either full or partial refunds for missed attendance. 

Alternatively, some daycare will only provide refunds under specific circumstances such as if your child does not attend daycare due to illness.

Daycare providers that refund payments for missed attendance enable you to recoup some of your child care costs when your child does not attend daycare for reasons such as:

• Family trips or vacations
• Sudden sickness
• Health related appointments such as dentist or doctor’s appointments

Your child may also miss daycare attendance due to reasons outside of your control such as daycare closures due to staff sickness, to conduct renovations or building repairs, etc.

What is your parent vacation policy?

Daycare providers at times have a parent vacation policy that specifies whether or not you are required to continue paying daycare enrollment fees when your child goes on vacation.

In such cases, paying daycare enrollment fees guarantees that your child’s daycare spot is reserved even when your child does not attend daycare while on vacation.

Inquiring about your daycare’s parent vacation policy is therefore an essential part of planning for a family vacation.

Your daycare’s parent vacation policy may have a big impact on your total cost of vacation if your daycare requires you to continue paying for enrollment while your child is on vacation.

How much notice is required before cancelling daycare attendance?

Daycares at times have a cancellation policy that specifies how much advance notice is required before cancelling your child’s daycare enrollment.

In such cases, the cancellation policy also specifies a penalty fee charged for not providing sufficient advance notice.

Being informed about your daycare’s advance notice requirements can save you from a hefty fine when terminating your child’s daycare attendance.

Your daycare’s advance notice requirements do not affect how much you pay for regular daycare attendance. However, advance notice requirements can have a significant financial impact when terminating your child’s daycare enrollment.

For example, a daycare policy may specify that you should provide 30 days notice before cancelling your child’s enrollment.

In this case, if you terminate your child’s daycare enrollment without providing 30 days notice, you may be required to pay a penalty fee that is equivalent to 1 month of daycare attendance based on applicable daycare prices for your child’s age group.

Some of the reasons that you might consider terminating your child’s daycare enrollment include:

• Enrolling your child in a preschool or school program
• Relocating your family to a new city or country
• Dissatisfaction with your daycare provider
• Choosing to remain home and care for your children as a stay at home parent

Providing your daycare provide with advance notice gives them the opportunity to:

• Notify families on waiting lists about a spot that will be opening up.
• Efficiently purchase food, equipment, and supplies without overspending.
• Plan staff work schedules to ensure that sufficient staff are present for the number of children in attendance.

What does your daycare insurance cover?

Daycare provider insurance policies provide different types of coverage.

Asking a daycare provider what their insurance policy covers lets you know whether or not they have an insurance policy in the first place.

Additionally, knowing ahead of time what coverage your daycare’s insurance policy provides has several benefits:

• It lets you know whether you will be held liable for expenses if your child damages daycare property.
• Accidents and injuries happen from time to time. In some cases, a daycare’s insurance policy may provide coverage for medical costs in the event that your child gets injured while at daycare.
• It lets you know whether you will be held liable for medical expenses if your child personally harms another child.

It would be unfortunate to be surprised by an unexpected bill from an incident that occurred at daycare that you took for granted that your daycare’s insurance would cover.

Therefore, it’s a good idea to find out what a daycare’s insurance policy covers before enrolling your child with that particular daycare.

Who pays ambulance fees in the event of an emergency?

In the event of a life-threatening emergency, a daycare may make a 911 call to request an ambulance to transport your child to hospital.

In such cases, ambulance fees may be charged for transporting the child to a hospital.

Parents, as well as daycare providers, are at times caught off guard by the ambulance fee charged after a child has been transported to hospital. 

If a daycare has a policy that specifies who is responsible for this fee, this provides clarity and clear next steps.

If your child has a health condition that renders them emergency-prone, then asking about a daycare’s ambulance fee policy will:

1. Set clear expectations for what is expected of you in the event that your child is transported in an ambulance.
2. Save you from some awkward conversations between you and your daycare provider in the unfortunate event that your child is transported in an ambulance.

Is daycare transportation included in daycare prices?

Child transportation to or from daycare is a service that some daycare providers offer.

Child transportation costs are often charged separately from daycare attendance. 

However, daycare transportation is at times included in the daycare prices that some daycares charge and therefore comes at no extra cost.

Asking whether or not transportation is included in daycare attendance rates enables you to more accurately compare the cost of child care between different daycare providers that both offer daycare transportation.

Although daycare transportation provides a great deal of convenience, it can be quite costly when charged separately.

Are daycare trips included in daycare prices?

Child care providers occasionally organize special trips or excursions to expose children to new environments and experiences.

Examples of such excursions include:

• A trip to a nearby zoo
• Museum tours
• Aquarium tours
• A trip to a historical site
• A trip to a nearby farm
• Planetarium tours
• Petting zoo trips

Trips or excursions organized by daycare providers provide exciting learning opportunities for enrolled children.

However, these excursions may have an additional cost on top of the daycare rates that you pay for enrollment.

You undoubtedly do not want to deprive your child of the unique experiences provided by daycare trips.

Nevertheless, the cost of daycare trips can be a significant expense on top of your already costly daycare attendance fees.

Therefore, it’s a good idea to ask whether you will be expected to pay extra for your child to participate in daycare trips.

What is your gifts and tips policy?

Daycare providers often have a gifts and tips policy that determines what gifts daycare staff are allowed to receive from parents.

For example, some daycares have a strict “no financial gifts” policy that restricts daycare staff from receiving gifts such as cash, cheques, and gift cards from parents.

Alternatively, other daycares require financial gifts to be split equally among all daycare staff.

In such cases, if you wanted to gift a particular staff member $50, you would have to gift a total of $100 if the daycare had two members of staff since financial gifts are split equally among all staff members.

Asking about a daycare’s tips and gifts policy keeps you informed and minimizes the chances that you will unknowingly violate your daycare’s policies in the event that you choose to give a staff member a financial gift in the form of cash, a cheque, a gift card, or a voucher.