She visited two dozen centres in the Seattle area, created spreadsheets with notes and paid at least $500 in nonrefundable waiting list fees. Yet the situation illustrates just how much power U.S. child care centres currently wield, said Elise Gould, an economist studying child care policy at the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute. “They can have hundreds of people on their waiting list but never give them anything?” Gould said. Many child care centres already price out a large population of families with tuition prices rivaling that of elite universities. For years, the child care and preschool industry has been trying to address its high turnover rate that nears 50 per cent.

Source: National Post September 29, 2018 17:29 UTC