“It takes a village to raise a child,” is a common phrase, and it also just might be a way to deal with high childcare costs that Americans agree are a major problem, according to owners of a Chicago-area business.
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“The really unique thing about Le Village is that parents co-work alongside their kids,” explained Annie Pecoraro, owner of the co-working/daycare space in Lakeview. “And when I first discovered it, I knew that that was what I wanted to do.”
Pecoraro recently joined Brandon Ison on WBBM Newsradio’s “Noon Business Hour” to explain what Le Village offers and how she plans to expand the model.
“Basically, parents can get their work done flexibly when they need to in the co-working side of our space while their kids are being taken care of in the childcare side,” she told Ison. “And we break for lunch every day so that parents can enjoy that quality time with their kid right in the middle of the day.”
As of last November, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that U.S. families were spending between 8.9% and 16% of their median income on full-day care for just one child. That didn’t begin to touch the costs for multiple children or part time day care. Audacy reported in summer 2024 that for some families, childcare costs were even higher than housing costs. This month we reported that an AP-NORC poll found that, 76% respondents believe childcare costs are a major problem.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates that, in 2024, there were 32.7 million families (nearly two-fifths of all families) in the U.S. with children under age 18. Both parents were employed in most of those families (66.5%).
Pecoraro and her husband were faced with a decision that many other parents could relate to when she was pregnant with her first child: should they keep working and pay for day care or have one of them quit to stay home with their baby? Then, Le Village opened up another option.
“When we we’re looking at child care options, nothing felt right, you know, we weren’t sure that we would need full time, five day a week care,” she said. “And I also just couldn't bear the thought of leaving my daughter, you know, after just having her. So that was really what inspired us.”
At Le Village’s locations, doors open at 8 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. While there, parents can use private rooms or co-working spaces and drop off their kids at day care classrooms in the same building, which are open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
As Pecorao mentioned, parents can have lunch with their kids. There’s also access to Wi-Fi, copiers, scanners and a café with a patio. In the classrooms, kids have access to certified staff, play time and enrichment opportunities. There are flexible packages, ranging from a few hours to unlimited access five days per week.
“We offer more flexibility than really any other child care option,” Pecoraro said. “And that’s critical if we want parents to feel supported and able to maintain their careers once they become parents.”
Le Village’s first location opened six years ago in the Irving Park neighborhood. Since then, more locations have opened in Des Plaines, IL; Lyons, IL; Milwaukee, Wisc., and the recently opened Lakeview/Uptown location at 4021 N. Broadway.
Apart from providing parents with a way to get work done while staying close to their kids, Le Village also has another benefit – connecting parents of young kids with a local community.
“I think one of the key things is that when you have a baby, especially your first, you know, everything is new. And even though seasoned parents, you know might kind of laugh at some of those concerns that new parents have, we don’t know any better,” Pecoraro explained. She added that “I wanted to find my community of people who are going through the same things at the same time.”
Being able to chat with other co-working parents has helped Pecoraro not feel as isolated and she said its made a big difference. According to research published last year by the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, “a broad majority of parents experience isolation, loneliness and burnout from the demands of parenthood,” and nearly 80% said they would like to find ways to connect with other parents outside of work and home.
“We might all be very different, have different careers – you know, different walks of life. But what we have in common is that we’ve all got kids in this same life stage. And so, there’s a lot of camaraderie that’s kind of inherent in that, but wouldn’t naturally occur if you were, let’s say, dropping your kid off at a traditional daycare,” Pecoraro said.
With a center already open in another state, she said that she hopes the Le Village model will expand across the U.S.
“We want to see a Le Village in every city and let everyone experience that awesome blend of being able to get their work done while staying close to their kids,” Pecoraro told Ison.