Connecting families to share kid care in San Mateo County

“Our mission is moms supporting moms in their important work,” Salyer said. “That can be outside the home, in an office, or in your career, but it should also be the work inside the home. That’s where the paid model is so important to us because it’s one of the first times stay-at-home parents can get paid for the work they are already doing.”

Parents often use the company to find temporary ongoing matches around hard-to-fill schedules and hours, with flexible and accessible options standing out versus other competitors. June Care, which stands for joining up neighbors everywhere, tries to bring people together by matching people within 6 miles, allowing nearby parents to meet.

San Carlos resident Emily Hicks, a June Care host, has been looking after toddlers for the last five months. She started because she was looking for part-time jobs to help supplement her income while away from her work as an elementary school teacher. She was also a nanny and knew she wanted to continue having hands-on experience working with kids. One of the job’s biggest selling points was being able to spend time at home with her daughter, who was born in December.

“It’s an awesome opportunity for stay-at-home moms to be able to bring in income while staying home with their kids,” Hicks said.

Hosts set their rates, typically $15 to $22 per hour, depending on the care request, along with a 10% service fee in the first year of weekly payments, according to the June Care website. To be a host, a person must pass background, reference and security checks. The job allows Hicks’ daughter to socialize with other kids around her age who live nearby, as other kids in her extended family live an hour and a half away.

“Just being able to put her in an environment around other kids is awesome,” Hicks said.

Care can range from one-time scheduling when parents have no other options to more regular work. Her most consistent work is with a family on Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The parents work conflicting hours, with Hicks providing help for the crossover period.

While she is only doing one day a week, Hicks hopes to expand and do four days a week, given she is seeing more people using June Care to find caregivers. She believes having a business that connects stay-at-home moms is unique compared to other sites, offering advantages over other platforms where a nanny would most likely be a high school or college student. She says many people find comfort in knowing that the caregiver is a mom and has a child.

“Even though I’m a host, if I needed child care, I would feel more comfortable sending her to someone who is a mom and has the experience,” Hicks said.

One of her clients is Coral Shells, a mom of a 3-year-old son living in Belmont. She found June Care through a mom’s group on Facebook almost a year ago. She wanted a flexible baby-sitter who could do part time but was not having luck with bigger companies, with many part-time baby-sitters unreliable and canceling on them. Many people only do full time because it works financially, making part-time work unappealing.

“I think there are many good options if you want full-time day care, but you also need to be able to afford it,” Shells said. “You need to be making quite a bit in your job.”

Affordability and schedule flexibility are some of the biggest benefits for Shells, along with the background checks June Care completes. Shells worked with one host before the host moved and has been working with Emily for the last few months. Shells appreciated the responsive and responsible work of both moms.

“They are more flexible on the amount they charge per hour so that you can negotiate with them, so that makes it more affordable,” Shells said. “You don’t have to be locked into days; you can work together with what works for both parents.”

June Care has grown to six full-time employees and 7,000 families involved with the company, with around 2,000 in the Bay Area. Salyer’s goal is to grow the company and make it accessible for all families and build a model similar to Airbnb and Uber. She believes tapping into the underutilized care opportunities in homes can increase child care and economic opportunities for families, providing an income for something many people are already doing for their kids. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average annual cost of infant care in California is $16,945, around $1,412 per month. California is also one of the most expensive states to raise children.

Salyer worked in the tech industry for over a decade before becoming a stay-at-home mom with her three daughters right before the pandemic. While she took time off, many other parents she knew did not have the same opportunity. She organized informal child care swaps to give her friends reliable time without kids, which became increasingly important and needed.

“I was coordinating so many families and schedules, and that was where June Care was born,” Salyer said. “It felt like this needs to exist in the world, this opportunity for parents to rely on each other to find reliable child care.”

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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