“Redshirting” Increasing Child Care Demand

Every September, the incoming group of kindergarteners becomes slightly older.

As parents look to give every possible advantage to their kids, experts see a growing trend of redshirting, in which parents hold off on sending their children to kindergarten so they have an academic, athletic, and social leg up on their peers. Not a new concept, but certainly a growing trend. While 4 to 5 years old was typically the norm for a kindergartener, we could soon see that become 5 to 6. What if the trend continues from there?

This increase in redshirting children means an increase in demand for nursery schools. daycares, and other childcare providers that will likely continue. This is especially true now as some of NYC’s top private schools are encouraging the trend by pushing back their cutoff date from the fall to the summer, requiring all children to be at least 5 years old.

NYC public schools currently have a Dec. 31st cutoff. That could soon change as well however as there is state legislation in place to roll the cutoff date back to Dec. 1st. What’s the significance? Many children born from Dec 1-Dec. 31 every year will require an extra year of full time childcare.

Experts attribute some of this growing interest to Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book,”Outliers,” which argued that children who are older, bigger, and more mature than their classmates have a distinct advantage. Gladwell wasn’t necessarily referring to redshirting. He was referring to children born in the beginning of the year, and/or right after the cutoff date. So a child with a January 1 birthday would have much better chance of success compared a child with a September birthday. Whether redshirting truly is beneficial or not is up for debate. However, one NYC school professional said he has seen a 30% increase in parents asking about redshirting their kids.

Here’s the takeaway. If you’re a daycare, nursery school, or other child care provider, follow this trend. Follow your local schools, public and private, to see if they’re pushing back their cutoff dates as this could have a great effect on your business.