20 hours cancelled??

Our daycare has gone up $11 per day. We still get the '20 free hours' though which for us starts the same time so thankfully not noticing the increase.

With me working we get no WFF and no childcare subsidy which is fair enough, but if not for the 20 free(ish, as I pay the donation on top) hours then it really would not be worth my while working as it's hard enough paying full price for one child let alone two and I am on far above the average wage as is my DH, so to me it just makes no sense. They either want people at work earning money and paying tax or they don't, and if they want people like me who get no other government handouts to work then we need some sort of help to do that. It's pretty much impossible on even a higher wage to pay a mortgage, pay tax, rates, petrol, food etc and make ends meet as we don't get the help that lower income earners get (and we don't have a flash house or drive flash cars, quite the opposite actually). This government keeps trying to take take take from higher earners with young families and something is gonna snap cos it has to. At this rate I will be forced to not return to work until the youngest is at school and then I will be so far behind as the industry I'm in moves fast that it will probably be near impossible to get back in.
It's just silly, what's also silly is that no one complains about paying for other people's children to go to school but they get the hump about ECE, that attitude needs to change. In actual fact New Zealands attitude to children in general needs to change, but that's a whole different thread.

linda wrote: I think the money should be spent more on primary and secondary schools rather than preschools.

So you would prefer that your vulnarable baby or toddler is looked after by unqualified teachers??

it is actually just called 20 Hours ECE...

here is a link that explains a bit about it:

link

this bit might explain the changes coming into effect this feb.

from February 2011 - teacher-led early childhood services can also ask parents for 'Optional Charges' within their 20 Hours ECE entitlement for the service having more than 80% registered teachers.

I hope they keep the 20 ECE - I definitely plan to use it, as it would certaintly make going back to work worthwhile.

Sometimes I wonder where we are going as a nation. It seems harder and harder for the average person to get by. I don't begrudge anyone who has worked hard getting well paid, but I do wonder, why the gap between rich and poor has got so much wider, and it is very tricky to own your own home on one income.

Well said cuppatea.

We don't qualify for subsidies. I am putting two kids in after school care and before school care and it is costing us over $170 per week. My DH lives in akl due to that being the only place for him to get a job and I live in hamilton whilst going to uni. It is only for 1 year so this is a short term situation.   So I am a single mum in regards to raising the kids 5 days a week. My DH lives in another city earning 1/2 the money he used to.   Although we are on what is considered a high wage we have two lots of housing to cover with DH's up there and me down here as well as petrol etc. Today sky was returned to the shop and our internet has been reduced to the basic package. I have started all sorts of ways to reduce our costs that are extremely high due to having a good wage for so long and getting used to some perks. In many ways when we were starting out it was easier as I qualified for lots of subsidies and we didn't have the committments we have now.

Went to kindy today & have not heard anything. Not been told of any increase yet. Lucky we only have a few more months to go. I guess the thing about kindy is the charges are small.