Top 5  Childcare Trends Every ECE Leader Should Know in 2025

Childcare leaders are a resilient bunch. But even the most resourceful leaders face barriers. And 2025 brings a fresh set of challenges and opportunities that demand the

forward-thinking approach our ECE heroes are known for.

This year, our research has uncovered some exciting opportunities to optimize enrollment processes, boost occupancy, and grow your business. But here’s the catch: without streamlined reporting, many childcare leaders are unsure where their biggest challenges—or biggest wins—actually lie.  

Because you can’t manage what you don’t measure. To make sure you’re ahead of the game, we’ve rounded up the top childcare trends for 2025. Let’s dive in.

Top Childcare Trends for 2025

1. Nearly 70% of childcare organizations report consistently achieving enrollment goals and retaining existing families as top challenges for 2025. 
2. 68% of childcare leaders say hiring and retaining staff is a key challenge, up from 56% in 2024.
3. 64% of childcare professionals say reporting on business performance​ is a key challenge in 2025.
4. 61% of childcare leaders named scaling the business and growing faster​ as a top priority.
5. 28% of childcare organizations say they’re planning to open 1-2 new locations, 42% say they’re planning to open 3 or more, and only 19% don’t have plans to expand.
6. Nearly 50% of teams spend 7-9 hours per week managing paperwork, lesson plans, and reporting.
7. At top-performing centers, 65% of families who complete a self-scheduled tour convert to waitlist or registered.
8. 42% of childcare professionals say only half or fewer of their families re-enroll after the first year.
9. 68% of childcare centers report occupancy rates of 70% or lower.
10. 26% reported a staff turnover rate of 60% or higher and 65% reported a staff turnover rate of 30% or higher.
    
    

    Dive into the data. Download the full 2025 Benchmark Report here.

1. Family re-enrollment will be key

With over 60% of childcare organizations listing family retention as a top priority, re-enrollment is shaping up to be a key focus in 2025.

And with a growing number of childcare leaders reporting a re-enrolment rate of 80% (25% in 2023, 35% in 2024) the competition is only getting tougher. 

That’s why having a strong retention plan in place from day one is more important than ever. 

Here are some proven ways to keep your existing families engaged:  

• Understand family needs: Getting to know your families is key to a great customer experience—and a surefire way to boost retention. Whether you’re talking to Gen Z or Millennial parents, it’s important to understand that speed, convenience, expert guidance and friendly service are the key drivers of a positive customer experience.
• Regularly connect with parents: According to the 2025 ECE benchmark survey, childcare pros post around 7 media updates per week (think: photos and videos). At LineLeader, we recommend stepping up your game to share those special ‘moments’ around 6 times per day, per child to boost engagement and make re-enrollment a no-brainer.
• Offer daily insights: Giving parents the insights they need to reinforce the curriculum at home not only boosts the perceived value of your programs, but also keeps families loyal and leads to better results for the students. In fact, parents who see value in their childcare providers are 65% more likely to stick around.
• Go digital: Parents want personalized, digital experiencesBy ditching daily sheets and establishing a clear schedule for sending photos and videos each week, leadership teams don’t have to guess which families will stay. They can track actual engagement metrics that translate into a solid revenue pipeline. 
• Start strong from day one: Engaging and supporting parents during the probationary period doesn’t just provide a warm welcome—it’s key to boosting long-term enrollment and turning parents into advocates for your organization. In fact, directors who actively engage with families during onboarding help boost retention rates by a whopping 30%. 

Bottom line: keeping families engaged with personalized touches, digital tools, and a strong start from day one isn’t just smart—it’s the key to turn happy parents into loyal advocates.

2. Multisite centers will centralize enrollment

 Almost 70% of childcare centers say hitting enrollment targets and retaining existing families are their biggest challenges for 2025.

But with only 38% of ECE organizations investing in a centralized enrollment team to follow up on leads and schedule tours, there’s clearly room for improvement. 

The answer? An automated enrollment system that offers clear data visibility across every aspect of your childcare business, allowing you to “inspect what you expect”.

As former multi-site owner, ECE exit strategist and business consultant Julie Roy puts it, “The first time I scaled my business from nothing to 10 locations in Canada, it took me 10 years. The second time, we compressed time hugely and we increased enrollment and revenue…We scaled from 0 to 10 schools in a third of the time… the consistency in our systems and processes helped us a lot. Having an enrollment specialist that knew how to get the enrollments in, how to speak to the parents, how to deliver great tours, and how to show families the same level of quality.” 

In other words, centralized enrollment = more consistency, more time and more revenue. 

Here’s why it’s a no-brainer: 

• A better parent experience: With Millennial and Gen Z parents making increasingly local purchasing decisions, childcare centers need to provide personalized communications every time a family inquires. Centralized enrollment gives teams easy access to detailed insights for each location (think: hours of operation, classroom availability, tuition costs, and fees), so when parents inquire, they always get a highly personalized response.
• Strengthened internal comms: Centralized enrollment empowers teams with a deep understanding of each center’s unique services, so they can learn from each other and connect across locations, no matter how far apart. Plus, with tools like LineLeader, teams can even provide inputs like a guardian’s home or work address and make suggestions on which location is the best fit for new families.
• Clear data visibility: Data-driven decision making is the way forward, and with done-for-you lead source and marketing ROI reports, automated enrollment enables you to see how your centers are faring across the board, all in one place. 

In other words, centralized enrollment is the best way to drive consistency, improve parent experiences, and achieve scalable growth for your childcare businesses. What’s not to love? 💞

3. Automation will boost productivity 

With 68% of childcare centers stuck below 70% occupancy, maintaining profitability in 2025 is a major challenge.But as the saying goes, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Without clear data, figuring out what’s working (and what’s not) is almost impossible.

Enter childcare automation. With easy access to across-the-board reporting and one-click streamlined systems, automation is changing the game for childcare providers—and will continue to do so into 2025.

In fact, automation leaders saw a huge 22% reduction in process costs, while lagging companies managed only 8%. And the future looks even brighter: by 2026, 30% of organizations will automate more than half of their operations, up from less than 10% in 2023.

Here’s why automation is the way to go: 

• Our research reveals that half of childcare teams are still spending one full day per week on manual processes, such as tuition processing, payroll, enrollment paperwork, and reporting on business performance—so there’s huge room for improvement.
• Almost two-thirds of childcare workers estimate they could save a minimum of 6 hours per week through better and deeper automation. 
• Childcare workers typically spend 7+ hours a week on manual tasks like managing subsidies (53%), tracking student attendance (52%), and handling billing (52%). But with the help of automation, top-performing organizations have streamlined these tasks, cutting time spent on managing subsidies and attendance to just 1-3 hours per week and reducing billing and payments to 4-6 hours per week.
• Now is the perfect time for childcare organizations to jump on the automation bandwagon as “organizations expect to achieve an average cost reduction of 31% over the next three years through intelligent automation.”
  
  

4. Integrated tech will become the norm

Gone are the days when childcare organizations had to rely on creating their own complicated proprietary systems just to keep operations running. 97% of childcare professionals now use some form of childcare management software (CMS)—but as the industry evolves, just having software isn’t enough. 

For real efficiency, you need to integrate your entire tech stack for a seamless, end-to-end experience.

As Teddy Hook, VP of Product at LineLeader, puts it, “Childcare organizations are often juggling six different tools to manage their business operations or they’re relying on internal teams to strategize, develop, and support a proprietary system that’s taking their focus off what they do best: educate and care for their enrolled students. Neither of these options offers a sustainable way to grow a business in an industry that’s facing rising labor costs and significant changes in parent expectations.”

In 2025, it’s time to embrace smarter, more streamlined tech solutions that allow your organization to thrive and refocus on what matters most—providing exceptional care to children and families.

5. Reducing staff turnover will remain a priority

With 68% of childcare leaders saying hiring and retaining staff is a key challenge in 2025 (up from 56% in 2024), reducing staff turnover is set to remain top of the agenda.

“The easing of hiring challenges has come with a less experienced labor pool that has created the need for expanded training and credentialing programs. Employers who previously struggled with labor shortages have now naturally progressed to a retention hurdle with the hope that more training and support for new hires equates into longer tenure in new positions.” says Kathy Ligon, Founder and CEO of HINGE Advisors.

But despite the clear need to train up a less experienced labor force, the number of childcare organizations investing in professional development has dropped from 88% in 2023 to only 80% in 2024. 

With 65% of childcare organizations still facing turnover rates of over 30%, this clearly needs to change. Here are some surefire ways to engage your teams and boost staff retention: 

• Focus on professional development: Childcare automation gives staff the tools they need to develop new skills for a company culture focused on continuous growt. 📈
• Free up employee time: In 2024, 50% of childcare teams spent 7-9 hours weekly on paperwork. Automating tasks like tracking staff hours, managing enrollment paperwork and compiling lesson plans allows employees to shift their focus to higher-priority tasks and more meaningful work.
• Empower your team: Giving staff access to the right tools and data boosts confidence and control over the centers they manage. Empowered employees are more engaged, productive and invested in overall business success. 
• Create space for meaningful work: With 66% of employees seeking meaningful work, today’s workforce desires more than just a paycheck. Childcare automation can help by improving communication, strengthening teacher-parent relationships, and offering professional growth opportunities. 

As ECE Business & Leadership Strategist Beth Cannon puts it, “If you want to retain the best teachers to come to the best places and deliver the best services, make sure you start with the expectation of excellence.”

Stay ahead in 2025 with data-driven solutions

As the childcare landscape becomes more competitive, having the right strategies in place to drive enrollment and retain families is more important than ever. 

From leveraging automated systems for seamless management to strengthening relationships through personalized engagement, every effort counts. 

At LineLeader, we’re committed to helping childcare operations succeed by providing the tools and support you need to enhance family experiences, improve retention, and scale effectively. 

We understand that the key to success in 2025 lies in creating a seamless, engaging, and personalized experience for families that keeps them coming back year after year—and with LineLeader onside you’re sure to succeed. 💪🏻

Download our latest data report or visit the LineLeader resource center for all the latest childcare insights and strategies