The reality of daily life in today’s American family is that fewer than one out of every three children have a stay at home parent. That means that the daycare industry is providing an extremely valuable service for thousands of families in the United States. A family will spend roughly 7.8 percent of their household budget on daycare for the children. Child care has become an absolute necessity for many families these days, not just a luxury.
Right now in America, 32.7 million children are in child care arrangements and organized child care facilities take care of 25% of these child care arrangements. Whether children are being watched over in an after school program or a preschool daycare facility, child care has become an industry that extends far beyond grandparents or other family members who pitch in when they can.
Daycare businesses are simply that–businesses. They need to be run that way. Many facilities today focus so much of their time on the care of the children–as well they should–but lack the necessary tools to run the businesses as efficiently and effectively as possible. There are over 1 Million Daycare Center, Family Childcare (FCC) Homes, and Early Childhood Education facilities in the United States alone. Most of these programs lack a technology infrastructure and business intelligence tools. That is why software for daycare is so important. With the right kind of child care management software, daycare centers of every stripe can manage their businesses with ease.
Child care facilities have a great deal to concern themselves with. Monitoring the comings and goings of children in and of itself is no small task. It goes without saying that every child care center wants to make the safety of the children its first priority. Today’s software for daycare centers can automate the check in and check out of the children, keeping records of everyone present and everyone who has gone for the day. There is even technology available and ready for mobile connectivity with parents. Being an app away from your children while they are in the care of someone else keeps you connected in a very positive way.
With any business, there are jobs and tasks that can always take up more time than we have to get them done. The child care business is no different. The right software for daycare can automate so many tasks that used to take up so much time. Payment processing, employee payroll, and even regulatory adherence can be done in virtually no time at all, if you’ve got the right stuff.
All over the country these days, children are spending more time away from their parents in child care. Some of these daycare centers are public, some are in-home private situations. No matter what the situation, if you are in the daycare business, do yourself a favor and find the best software for daycare that you can. It will free you up to do more of what you got into the business to do–take care of the children.