Parents 'losing out' on childcare

Government funding for childcare is failing to move with the times, and average earners are losing money as a result, says one industry expert.

Early Childhood Council chief executive Sue Thorne believes both the amount of funding and the way it is dispensed must be altered to meet the needs of a changing workforce.

Consumer Price Index figures released last week show childcare costs rose 2.9 per cent for the June quarter, and 3 per cent for the year to June.

Central Government - through the Education Ministry - pays for six hours of care a day, leaving childcare centres to cover costs for up to four hours daily.

"These additional costs have to be passed on to the parents."

To compound matters, many working parents do not have structured 40-hour weeks; they may be employed for 10 hours a day, twice a week. Were that 20 hours to be spread across a five-day week, the Government would foot the bill for all of it. Instead, the parent must pay for eight hours' daycare over the two-day period.

Social Welfare funding is available for up to 10 hours' childcare a day, but only to income-tested families.

Childcare does not come cheap: $150-$170 is generally the minimum charge per child per week.

That cost will be fully met by Winz subsidies if parents meet income criteria, but daycare centres are able to charge as much as they like.

And in Auckland those costs can vary by suburb, says Royal Oak Childcare Centre owner John Briffert.

Costs at Royal Oak generally run between $200 and $210 per child/week, "but I know, in Remuera, it is higher than that".

Mr Briffert also runs a centre in low-income Otahuhu, which charges the minimum $160.50.

Retention and recruitment, on top of skill shortages in the sector, are pushing the price of daycare "through the roof", Sue Thorne says.

Daycare supervisor wages, she says, account for "50 to 80 per cent" of childcare centre costs.

Not that she begrudges their wages.

"What our members provide is a necessary part of what the working family needs nowadays.

"It has not bottomed out yet. Demand is as high as it has ever been."

But there could be light at the end of the tunnel.

This month the Government introduced hourly childcare rate rises of up to 11.2 per cent for under-2s and 13.2 per cent for those over 2 years old.

A further $30 million will be invested in the sector over the next four years to boost the quality of early-childhood teaching.

However, Education Minister Steve Maharey last week conceded there was a discrepancy between subsidised childcare hours and a parent's working hours.

"If you have got a job, and it is 40 hours, you have to get to and from it."

But the Government was moving to 50 hours' paid care, made up from a "mixture" of free hours, subsidies and Winz "working for families" payments.

Mr Maharey said last month the extra 20 hours for over-2s would be in place by July next year.