Playgroup raising price last minute, how is this fair?

amother

Trillium

Wed, Aug 03 2022, 8:57 pm

amother [ Gold ] wrote:

Im just curious.
If a school raised tuition by $1500 (150/month) would you say the same thing and tell women to pull their child because the school isn't trustworthy?

Look. I'd also be mad if the Morah raised her tuition prices significantly more than what she said. But I don't think the Morah is being untrustworthy.

I'm a babysitter. I told my parents that I charge x. Now, the first week in August, I'm first getting my tuition contracts. 4 schools. All together, I have to pay $2500 more than last year and the extra is not negotiable.
So realistically what are my options? Should I go back and tell the parents that I need to raise my prices? Should I accept an additional child? Should I quit my group entirely to get a new job? Should I take a night job, a Sunday job that will likely burn me out and leave me less energy and enthusiasm for your child? (It's actually theoretical because for my reasons, we've figured it out). But I'm really curious what you think a Morah or someone like me should do.

You raise each child by $25/month!
×10 months =$250
×10 children in your group = $2500
Yes that would be the right thing to do and no parents would be upset at the morah for raising her price by $25/month!!!
And there a lot of morahs in exactly that situation!! We gave a price way back last year and we're sticking to it even if it's hard!!
(Do you realise that $200/month = $2000 per year for each child in her care!!!)

amother

Diamond

Wed, Aug 03 2022, 10:13 pm

amother [ Gold ] wrote:

Big difference in a Morah raising prices before people signed up and after. School told me the price when I registered. If after I signed up they changed the price, I would say that is unethical as well.

What do you think I should do? I cant afford the higher prices and I didnt get a raise. And my salary is pretty much locked in. I guess I should take night jobs and Sunday jobs and never be home and see my own kids? I anyways work way more hours than you do. But I guess it is ok for me to burn out and end up needing psych help or more?
What am I supposed to do? How are we supposed to eat? And no, there isn't much I can cut back on. My kids dont wear matching or get new wardrobes for each season etc.

But going against your word that you charge X and now it is X+Y really shows me what type of person I am dealing with. And I dont trust them.

amother

Steel

Wed, Aug 03 2022, 10:19 pm

amother [ Gold ] wrote:

Many people work at jobs where they aren't getting raises either. What should they do? My salary is set. I am locked into a multi year contract. From before inflation. I got no raises because of inflation. I can't switch jobs. What should people like me do?

amother

NeonOrange

Wed, Aug 03 2022, 11:08 pm

This is why playgroups should do registration Pesach time.
The place I work at (a Brooklyn playgroup) didn't accept children/send out contracts til right after Shavuos. People called for months. She took down their info and called them back when she knew her pricing and all. She didn't want to commit to a pricd til she knew more where inflation was going... Over here it's not as nuts as Lakewood, but Purim-pesach time is standard.

amother

Hosta

Thu, Aug 04 2022, 12:57 am

I didnt read all replies. I just wanna say I am running a group for the summer, and originally I thought it was a lot the asking price, but when I see how much food costs for every day, I wonder if its worth it:

11:00 cereal and applesauce. (applesauce is not cheap)...
Lunch- vegetables, pizza, french fries, bread, noodles, fish sticks, etc..
Snack, corn pops, pretzels, cookies...fruit cut up.
Water bottles for each kid..
Cups, paper goods...
Lots of freeze pops..
Bibs.
Wipes.
Playdough that vanishes in no time..
Crayons that break..
Books that rip..
Crafts to do..
Ice cream for a treat once in a while..
Electricity, AC, lots of water for washing and toilet flushing..
Washing machine to wash up bibs, towels, and shmattes
Pay my assistant...

And for the idea of threatening not to send...I can have 50 kids right now if I took..There is such a big demand and there is a reason not everyone chooses to do it.

amother

Mimosa

Thu, Aug 04 2022, 1:29 am

I’m a playgroup morah too . Every year kept my price as told by registration . This year also in a Big dilemma what to do . When I took registration in November I didn’t dream my grocery bill will triple! And my teacher will demand a huge raise … everything went up so drastically that suddenly the income is nearly none! I’m thinking to call moms but would definitely not raise price more then $50 a month. I feel bad it so last minute .. but it’s necessary to keep the playgroup going. A $200 I do think is not fair ! That’s taking it way to drastic. Just curious would u understand a $50 increase at this point? And not be mad even it’s pretty late?

creditcards

Thu, Aug 04 2022, 1:32 am

amother [ Diamond ] wrote:

Totally not ok.
And someone who acts unethical like that I would not trust with my child.
Yes, she shouldn't lose money but I need to feel like I can trust the person watching my little one. There is a whole concept that if you want to know who someone really is, see how they are with money issues... (Bikeiso, Bikaso).
Plus if I am not getting a raise I couldnt afford 200 more a month....

Why should she be working for free? She would rather close and not work than lose money. That's why she offered to return the deposit. It's unethical to ask someone to work for free to watch your kids. She made a mistake and calculated the price wrong. It's unethical not to let her know that her price was too low to begin with. How can you expect someone to work for free just because they agreed. It's unethical to take advantage of people who miscalculated and thought they were earning money.

creditcards

Thu, Aug 04 2022, 1:48 am

amother [ Trillium ] wrote:

It also depends what her price was before. If she was half price before then $200 is not that much.

amother

Gold

Thu, Aug 04 2022, 8:23 am

amother [ Diamond ] wrote:

I am not defending thid Morah. I think raising $200 a month is unfair.
But your elementary or high school told you a price in November when you registered and now sent you a tuition contract for the exact same price?
In Lakewood?
Which school is that?

I literally dont know any school that didnt raise their tuition by 300-400 and some by 1500-2000.

amother

Blushpink

Thu, Aug 04 2022, 8:37 am

amother [ Clear ] wrote:

I actually know this morah and is closely involved in this situation, the raise is unjustified and the reason why she is operating on a loss is because she is mismanaging her expenses. I feel terrible for all the parents that applied there

Which is just another reminder that a playgroup is a business and when a Morah raises her rates she is not giving herself a raise. Increased income for a business does NOT equal cash in the morah’s pocket.

Very sad if that is true and I wonder if it would be better if she shut down then? But how does that help anyone?

Simple1

Thu, Aug 04 2022, 8:56 am

amother [ Whitewash ] wrote:

Welcome to the Jewish communities, where "inflation" is double then it is else where. It starts with the greedy landlords doubling their rent and trickles down to every other business.

Sometimes I wonder if it a self fulfilling prophecy. I was pleasantly surprised a few times to see decent prices on some big items I wanted.

amother

Vanilla

Thu, Aug 04 2022, 9:26 am

amother [ Clear ] wrote:

This really doesn't paint the morah as a money thirsty demon though but not a great administrator.

She obviously ran the costs for what it would cost her to keep it open and it would cost her more money than she was charging. At some point either she or her accountant looked at the costs and determined that she needed to charge X amount per month or operate at a loss.

It isn't as if she looked around and decided to arbitrarily raise the price. For example when someone went around during the beginning of COVID and bought every single bottle of hand sanitizer in a huge area for $1.00 a bottle and then sold them for $30 per bottle - that is price gouging.

amother

Starflower

Thu, Aug 04 2022, 9:51 am

Im a playgroup morah and I started registration around Pesach time. When I gave my price some people said it was a lot, now whoever I talk to that is opening this coming year is already charging more then me. And I’m taking a very small group (5) and all the other ppl I spoke to are taking in much more. Just in the last few months people keep raising their prices, and it won’t stop as long as there is a demand. It starts with the greedy people and then everyone else wants to follow. I’m not raising because it’s not ethical. At the end of the day we have to remind ourselves that we will get what was decided on Rosh Hashana and all this won’t change anything.