Entrepreneurship in Child Care Services

Entrepreneurship in Childcare Services 4 (2+2)

Lesson 4 : Need for Establishment of Child Care Centre as an Enterprise

Need for establishment of child care centres

• Increasing number of duel earning families: One of the biggest challenges facing many urban families today is caring for their children while the parents work. According to the latest statistics the percentage of dual earning families is increasing and families are changed from joint to nuclear type. Due to urbanization and women’s participation in labour force most of the mothers who are employed having children below six years. As the number of working parents rises, so will the demand for child care.


• New 24 hour global market: Another issue that has an impact on child-care issues is the new, 24-hour global market. Occupations with a high number of employees working nights and weekends--such as software, hospitality, customer service and technical support are experiencing substantial growth and workers in these fields are in need of getting quality child care for their young children. Due to sift system and work demands young parents are willing to pay more if quality care is provided suitable to their working hours and also near to their residence.


• Opting of more than one type child care services: For many working parents, there is no single solution to their child-care needs. More than a third use more than one option, such as day-care centers part of the time and friends, neighbors or relatives on other occasions. A recent study conducted by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit policy research organization, revealed that about 30 percent of working parents have two child-care arrangements, and another 8 percent are using at least three. The study found that 65 percent of parents juggling multiple child-care arrangements use a combination of formal day-care centers, ICDS and baby-sitting by relatives and friends. Another 20 percent use two separate day-care centers. This may be due to suitability of job timings of parents and timings of daycare centers and also availability of more number of day care centers.