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Check some of the churches. I went back and read what your needs were again so Mothers Morning Out wouldn't work for you unless that has changed, but here in the Boone area, the University has some kind of daycare that students help run. Maybe you could check with all of the different colleges in your area to see if they have something. Good Luck, I feel for all young families on trying to make ends meet and raise young ones. Check out Warren Wilson, UNC-Asheville, ABTech, and Brevard, if it is not too far.
Lotusflower--maybe you should have considered a different title for your post instead of this very negative lead in--you might have found a more sympathetic audience. However, I agree with you that retired folks should not drive up the costs of childcare--after all we are generally too old to have kids and are more likely to need elder care instead. Since my youngest is 29 I have no idea what is the going rate but you have gotten a couple good suggestions here. Good luck with the search.
However, I agree with you that retired folks should not drive up the costs of childcare--after all we are generally too old to have kids and are more likely to need elder care instead.
Not just any retired folks . . . wealthy retired folks. Wealthy people moving here drives up the cost of living, which affects all aspects of the economy.
If people have to pay higher property tax or rent, they're going to charge more for the services they provide to compensate for it. That includes child care, unfortunately.
If that were true then one would expect the salaries of all other professions in the area to have gone up as well yet as we have discussed on this forum many times WNC has notoriously low median incomes. Why then are some workers paid much less while child care workers demand more?
I do agree that retirees have helped keep the price of housing elevated but other costs are not high. I am a good example--I was able to pay cash for my house since I had paid off the one I sold, and we paid less for it than our selling price in NVa. However, I have done the math and can tell you that the costs of living here are 20-30% lower than where I moved from and I think that is true of most large metro areas.
There are a lot of retirees who move here and live off a small annuity or 401K income plus SS. Many of them have been pushed to the edge by the bad economy and have either had to sell their homes or get jobs to meet living costs. I'm sure that a lot of them will be even closer to the edge once we see our January heating bills!
Sure there are well off ones who live in the big homes on the top of Reynolds Mt, Hamburg Mt, Town Mt, Beaver Lake, Grove Park, and Biltmore Forest, but the vast majority live in smaller homes in Weaverville, Swananoa, Black Mt, West Asheville, etc. So this idea that retirees are a bunch of wealthy old farts is just not true.
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Originally Posted by NC_Paddler
Not just any retired folks . . . wealthy retired folks. Wealthy people moving here drives up the cost of living, which affects all aspects of the economy.
If people have to pay higher property tax or rent, they're going to charge more for the services they provide to compensate for it. That includes child care, unfortunately.
Dear Lotus,
Unless I'm misunderstanding your needs, there are almost a dozen public schools in Buncombe County that have Pre-Kindergarten classes, which since they're part of the public school system in our area, they don't cost anything. I hope your child can attend one of those, they are in every part of the Asheville area that a person could live. Not all elementary schools have Pre-Kindergarten classes, but I will list the ones that do.
The schools that have Pre-Kindergarten are: Barnardsville Elementary (north), Candler Elementary (west), Fairview Elementary (south), Glen Arden Elementary (south), Haw Creek Elementary (east), Leicester Elementary (north), North Buncombe Elementary, Sand Hill-Venable elementary (west), Weaverville Primary (north), WD Williams Elementary (Swannanoa), and William W. Estes Elementary (south). You could call the ones closest to where you live and see about enrolling your child in those schools. I hope this helps.
GG
If that were true then one would expect the salaries of all other professions in the area to have gone up as well yet as we have discussed on this forum many times WNC has notoriously low median incomes. Why then are some workers paid much less while child care workers demand more?
I do agree that retirees have helped keep the price of housing elevated but other costs are not high. I am a good example--I was able to pay cash for my house since I had paid off the one I sold, and we paid less for it than our selling price in NVa. However, I have done the math and can tell you that the costs of living here are 20-30% lower than where I moved from and I think that is true of most large metro areas.
There are a lot of retirees who move here and live off a small annuity or 401K income plus SS. Many of them have been pushed to the edge by the bad economy and have either had to sell their homes or get jobs to meet living costs. I'm sure that a lot of them will be even closer to the edge once we see our January heating bills!
Sure there are well off ones who live in the big homes on the top of Reynolds Mt, Hamburg Mt, Town Mt, Beaver Lake, Grove Park, and Biltmore Forest, but the vast majority live in smaller homes in Weaverville, Swananoa, Black Mt, West Asheville, etc. So this idea that retirees are a bunch of wealthy old farts is just not true.
Why would that make salaries go up??? Nothing in his statement would say salaries would increase. He was pointing out the cost of doing business is more for those businesses.
Also 30% percent lower cost of living seems like alot to me. Housing is expensive, taxes are going up, gas is not cheaper here, nor is electric, maybe car insurance due to a smaller population. But 30%?? I would also venture to guess that the median income in metro areas is well more than 30% higher than Asheville.
If that were true then one would expect the salaries of all other professions in the area to have gone up as well ...
I don't think we should expect that at all.
In fact, I think the opposite is happening -- it costs more for services, but salaries are not going up. If there is an excess of labor -- which there is -- then that keeps salaries low.
Business owners can charge more for services -- like childcare -- in order to afford their house payment and property taxes, but not pay the employees any more than they already are, because the labor pool is flooded.
Also, I don't think it's reasonable to compare the cost of living for Asheville, with a population of around 75K, to the greater Washington DC metro area, which has an abundance of high paying jobs to support the economy.
In fact, I think the opposite is happening -- it costs more for services, but salaries are not going up. If there is an excess of labor -- which there is -- then that keeps salaries low.
Business owners can charge more for services -- like childcare -- in order to afford their house payment and property taxes, but not pay the employees any more than they already are, because the labor pool is flooded.
OK, you've just answered the question. Its the greedy business owners who are at fault. Maybe employees down here should join a union and strike for higher salaries from these barons of industry who are gouging the working man/woman.
Also, I don't think it's reasonable to compare the cost of living for Asheville, with a population of around 75K, to the greater Washington DC metro area, which has an abundance of high paying jobs to support the economy.
Of course it is reasonable!The reason many of us are moving to WNC is that our costs of living are much lower here than if we had stayed put. I could afford to take a 20-30% pay cut when I retired simply because it is 20-30% cheaper here! And that is true of many retirees from other large metro areas. If you don't think it is that much cheaper then check out some of the online comparisons such as Cost of Living comparison calculator . Right now Asheville is listed there as 26.64% cheaper than the DC/VA/MD metro area.
OK, you've just answered the question. Its the greedy business owners who are at fault.
lol . . . those are your words, not mine, and there's no reason one should conclude that based on what I said. I'm just describing the problem without making judgments one way or the other. Just the facts, man.
If you think business owners charging more for their services to afford the increased cost of living is "greedy", that's your deal, not mine.
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Right now Asheville is listed there as 26.64% cheaper than the DC/VA/MD metro area.
Of course. That's what I meant when I said the two are not comparable.
The fact remains that when wealthy people retire here, the net effect is that the cost of living increases. If wealthy people did not retire here, the cost of living for those working here would decrease.
I didn't say wealthy should not retire here. I did not say poor people should not retire here. I did not make any judgments whatsoever -- I just presented the facts. You can conclude what you like from them.
That's another discussion entirely. I'm just explaining to the OP why it costs more for childcare here. Take from that what you like.
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Asheville is a great place to retire to!
Did anyone claim it was not?? Obviously it is -- otherwise it wouldn't be such a popular retirement destination.
How is it greedy to have to charge more for services due to the fact that your rent is higher as well as your taxes because of the increasing cost of living? Also I don't think a childcare worker union would get very far and if it did it would drive up costs more
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