Can You Legally Discuss Your Child Care Rates?
What do the following situations have in common?
At a local meeting with other family child care providers you ask another provider, "What do you charge?"
You call up another provider on the phone who you know and ask, "Will you be raising your rates this summer?"
You walk into a local child care center, tell the receptionist that you are a child care provider and ask to see a copy of their rate schedule.
All of the above actions are illegal!
What's going on?
It's illegal for competitors to discuss their child care rates. Federal antitrust laws are designed to encourage competition and discourage competitors from setting prices higher than they would be otherwise. To discuss rates with another child care provider or center is considered price fixing and is against the law.
It's not illegal to discuss rates if the other person you are speaking to doesn't know you are a competitor. So, if you call another provider on the phone or visit a center and don't identify yourself as a provider you can ask what she or the program charges.
It makes sense that you would want to know what other providers are charging to help you evaluate your own rates.
Here are some legal steps you can take to collect this information:
Contact your local Child Care Resource & Referral agency and ask about rates in your area. Since this organization is not your competitor they can share any information they have about average rates and fee policies.
Look on the Internet for online classified ads (Craigslist, center websites, etc.) for child care rates. You can make your rates available to the public (just not privately to competitors).
Ask incoming and outgoing parents what they paid or will pay other caregivers. Parents are not your competitors.
I know that thousands of child care providers across the country violate this law every day! Many years ago there was a case in Minnesota where the state attorney general's office investigated a local family child care association that held a meeting where rates were discussed. The association had to promise not to do it again or face a large fine.
I think the primary time you should be concerned about discussing rates is in an association meeting or child care workshop where the risk goes up that someone will make a complaint. When someone does start taking about their rates, you might want to say, "I don't think we should be sharing rate information as competitors. Let's change the subject."
What other ways do you use to collect rate information about other child care providers?
Image credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-0tXX_KGsc
For more information, see my book Family Child Care Legal and Insurance Guide.
