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The childcare shortage is reaching crisis point, with some providers closing waiting lists. Desperate parents are being advised to register their unborn children as soon as they know they are pregnant to secure places in popular centres.
The tipping point is the subsidised childcare scheme introduced last July, which offers 20 hours' free care a week for children aged 3 and over.
One centre on Auckland's North Shore says inquiries have at least doubled since the introduction of the scheme. Murrays Bay Childcare Centre has a two-year waiting list and has closed its doors.
The new scheme has had a "significant" impact on the demand for childcare, says manager Gayle Newby.
Demand has outweighed supply for a long time in city centres, with reports of some parents trying to book places for children who were not yet conceived.
But the Working for Families policy and the free hours scheme have enabled _ and put pressure on _ more people to return to work, adding to the squeeze at childcare centres.
Bayfield Early Education Centre in Auckland's Herne Bay, which has 100 places, has closed its waiting list until March or April next year.
"We've got bursting rolls," says centre manager Shona Hewitt.
The waiting list at Christopher Robin's Child Care Centre in nearby Grey Lynn is more than a year.
Manager Barrie Ashton says the number of people seeking care has risen significantly since the subsidised care was introduced.
The problem is particularly bad for parents seeking care for their 3-year-olds. "I do feel sorry for them, but I can't make more spaces."
Centres reported parents were terrified to relinquish spots and were sometimes hanging on to bookings even if they didn't use or need them.
"Other families are desperate for those spots but parents aren't moving," said one manager.
And it's not just city centres affected. A centre planned for rural Matakana, about 45 minutes north of Auckland, has filled 80 per cent of its places by word of mouth.
"I only mentioned it to someone for the first time a couple of weeks ago. We haven't even advertised yet," said its manager.
Barriers to increasing daycare provision is a shortage of trained staff and a Government ruling that centres must have at least 50 per cent qualified staff.
A spokeswoman for daycare provider Kindercares, Barbara Tozer, says some centres have advertised for staff repeatedly without receiving a single application.
One Montessori centre in Matakana has been advertising for a teacher since the beginning of the year.
But while childcare centres are struggling with demand, rolls at many kindergartens are dropping drastically and the service is reviewing its role.
They offer half-day blocks of teaching rather than the full-day supervision many working parents require.
The Northern Auckland Kindergarten Association reports some waiting lists have dropped by 17 per cent in the past six months.
While some were taking younger children to fill the gaps, others were operating with roll shortfalls.
Northern general manager Maria Bradshaw is concerned the Government's shift in focus is more about tax incentives and meeting the needs of parents, than what is best for children.
"The focus is now about keeping children occupied and busy as opposed to educating them," she said. "It's a wildly changing environment."
