Childcare or Daycare?

If you’re looking for somebody to watch your child while you’re at work, you’re looking for daycare, right? Or should you be looking for childcare? Both terms are used when talking about care for your child, but what is the difference, if any, between the two?

Most parents will refer to care for their children as daycare. Daycare has been the more common term and is commonly used by parents. Although in the past, the term daycare was used almost exclusively, the term childcare is becoming more and more common. While parents still often use the term daycare, many providers are making a push to make childcare the accepted term when talking about care for children provided outside the home.

As more and more home-based childcare providers entered the market, they began to offer curriculum and daily activities that provided a high quality educational programming for the children in their care. Providers felt that the term daycare did not do justice to the level of care being provided. They were not simply watching the child for the day, nor were they babysitters. To convey this level of care, many providers started to switch to calling themselves childcare providers.

The switch in terminology can also be seen in the center-based providers. Many centers are moving away from names that include the word ‘center’, and are now adopting names that convey a sense of learning, like academy. Even though the children in this care are often very young, they are being exposed to teaching once reserved for much old children. Younger children in childcare centers are even being exposed to foreign languages.

Whether you call it daycare, childcare, or something else, it all means providing care for children, typically in a setting outside the child’s home.