Article Link: http://stage.exchangepress.com/article/continuing-strong-demand-projected-for-child-care-an-exchange-trend-reportr/5014534/
Two decades ago in a bullish article in Child Care Information Exchange (November, 1983), "Are You Ready for the Boom Years Ahead?", I observed:". . . there is mounting evidence that child care professionals should be most optimistic about the future. A variety of demographic and economic trends indicate that the demand for center-based child care is going to rapidly rise throughout the balance of the 1980's."
Looking back, although I tend to be woefully inept in forecasting sports scores and stock prices ("Microsoft? Don't waste your money; it's a flash in the pan."), I did get this one right. The US child care market experienced double digit annual growth through most of the 1980s.
Now I am going to dust off my crystal ball and see what the next decade holds in store for us. Will they be boom or bust years? To find out, let's look at the same indicators I reviewed in 1983 and see what they tell us today.
Population of Young Children
In the 1980s there was a surge in the population of young children, as baby boom children started to have children of their own. From 1980 to 1990, the population of children under the age of five ...