GREENVILLE, S.C. -- If you drive by around lunchtime, it may look like business is slow at the YWCA of Greenville child development center, a year-round, Monday through Friday day care for children from birth to 4 years old.

Actually all of the 80 or so children who use the center are inside for nap time.

"The No. 1 thing that we hear from parents is that their children are loved and respected," said YWCA Executive Director Phyllis Martin.

Lately, though, not all of the parents are in love with a tuition increase at the center.

Effective in August the tuition for infants increases $50 per week to $200 while the cost for pre-schoolers goes up $35 per week to $160.

It's part of a nationwide trend.

According to a report by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, the price of child care is rising faster than the average rate of inflation.

In South Carolina last year, the report found the average annual price for an infant rose 5.5 percent to $6,032 while the average annual rate for a 4-year-old was up 10.5 percent to $5,460.

At the YWCA officials say there are a lot of factors for the rate increase.

First, they say that the center had only a small increase last year and none in the 5 years before that.

But the center also was a victim of an increasingly widespread crime -- the copper tubing was stolen from the center's air conditioning unit twice in the last six months.

"When those things happen," Martin said, "it costs us upwards of $7,500 to replace that."

The YWCA says there are financial resources available to parents who are having trouble footing the bill.

In fact they say 30 percent of their children come at no cost or reduced cost.