'Short-changed' childcare providers fear closure

Home-based early childcare providers are asking for equitable funding after claiming they have been short-changed for the past four years.

Murray Edridge, chief executive of Barnardos, which represents about a quarter of the New Zealand home-based market, said some of his centres might have to close because they could not afford to operate.

Home-based services operate ratios of no more than four children to an educator and are run out of people's homes, while centres operate ratios of one educator to 10 children over 2, or one to five under the age of 2.

According to Ministry of Education figures, 13,065 children were enrolled in home-based services in 2008, an increase of 31.7 per cent from 2004.

Amanda McIntosh, who has been involved in childcare since 1982 and runs an Auckland-wide service for 100 children, said her waiting list had doubled in the past year as more parents learned of the developmental and health benefits of educating small groups of children with one caregiver, in the home.

But she cannot afford to expand her service under the ministry's funding regime.

Home-based services receive less money per child than early childhood centres and Playcentres because the cost-drivers funding, introduced in 2005, assumes they are less expensive to run.

Barnardos has about 2500 children involved in services around the country, with about 700 caregivers.

Mr Edridge said funding did not cover the cost of resources, administration and wages for educators, which were much lower than wages paid by centres.

"We are struggling to maintain our home-based services and may have to look at closures." he said.

In a written response Education Minister Anne Tolley said: "The Ministry of Education surveys the operating costs of early childhood education services every two years. Data consistently shows that home-based early childhood education services have lower costs than centre-based early childhood education services, which is reflected in the lower level of funding subsidy."