Public and Private Purchasing Practices Drive Quality Down

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Center directors struggling to provide quality child care services often find their efforts undermined by the purchasing practices of parents and public agencies. This is one of the key findings of the recently completed study, Cost, Quality and Child Outcomes. A number of study findings lead to this conclusion:

In most communities, the child care market is highly competitive, forcing all centers to hold fees to a similar level.

Researchers found that in most communities child care centers (both non profit and for profit) compete keenly for customers. As a result, all centers are forced to keep their prices near the market rate in order to remain competitive. In addition, the prevalence of family day care providers, often with lower fee levels, has a dampening effect on local fees.

Public agencies downplay quality in purchasing child care services.

Public funding typically comes with mandates to set subsidies at or below the ...