paddy234

Looking at childcare costs it seems the cheapest cost to put a child in daycare is $200 A week per child?!!! Is this figure accurate and how do families afford a mortgage, bills, food etc and to put one or even several children in daycare? I can't grasp it

escapedtonz

There are a multitude of options when it comes to childcare in NZ.
I.e. You could have a nanny, a live in au pair, in home childcare - e.g. PORSE, private daycare facility, community daycare facility and lastly a private daycare facility for pre-schoolers.
The costs you mention of $200 per week for a single child full time Mon-Fri is cheap (in my experience), and it all depends on location and age of the child which make a big difference to the costs.
You can be paying anything between $4-$10 approx per hour depending on the location and the facility so say for arguments sake you have a child in there from 07:30 - 17:30 which is a full day then it could cost you up to $100 per day......which isn't $200 per week!!! Normally a facility will charge a half day, a school day or a full day fee and not per hour...and you pay every week no matter whether your child attends or not....unless a day is a public holiday when you get these back. Some facilities offer a number of free or minimal cost days that you can select at your discretion.
Once a child becomes 3 years old and depending on visa status you can claim 20-30hrs per week ECE which is a government subsidy for every qualifying child and serves to reduce your weekly bill. The facility will claim this money on your behalf and charge you the difference.
When we started off in Wellington we were paying $190 per week for part time care...I think 3 x 8hr days per week, so 24hrs at around $8 per hour. It's worth noting that we also had to provide a personal pack of nappies and wipes for that child and keep the stock maintained. Food was included - morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. This allowed the Mrs to go back to work on those days and that was from 18 months old so no subsidy. Once he turned 3 we received the 20hrs ECE which reduced the fees massively so we increased his time there to 4 full days.
When we moved to Tauranga we had our boy attend a similar facility and the costs for the same hours of care where half of that in Wellington including the 20hrs ECE.....license to print money I tell you!

Our no 2 has just started daycare now here in Tauranga and we're paying $48 per week for 6 hrs care. One of the school mums also has her own business doing a toddler exercise programme that attends the daycare facility once a week so we also pay an extra $6 per week for that so total $54 per week at the moment which is getting up to the $10 per hour rate. We'll probably stay at this level for a while and as he gets older and as we save up we'll increase his hours and our childcare costs. We only have another 16 months to go before he'll be eligible for the 20hrs ECE so we'll just take it easy till he qualifies and we can then increase his hours.

Some friends of ours have 2 similar aged kids and needed full time childcare as they both work full time but it would have cost them $1000 per week in a daycare facility up until they got the 20hrs ECE so instead they employed an au pair from Germany. They recruited her through an NZ agent. She was a young qualified early learning teacher but studying in a degree for higher things. She became part of the family. They paid her a fixed weekly wage, her own en suite room, 2 days off per week and access to the car plus food and covered her power/phone/internet bills. Paid for her own clothing, personal stuff and spends. That cost them around $500-$600 per week so they were saving and had a babysitter on tap that lived with them. Great idea depending on how old the kids are and of course so long as the house is big enough for another person. We'd have done the same if our kids were close in age.
That family moved to the South Island and the au pair moved on. The agency got them another who has been with them a few years now and again is one of the family. Worked for them.

Another friend is a PORSE early childhood carer. She looks after up to 4 or 5 kids per day at her own home. The kids are dropped off in the morning and picked up in the afternoon. It does work out cheaper but reduces your child's exposure to other children and the facilities aren't as good being that they are in someone else's home and not a specific childcare centre.

Accommodation will be your highest weekly cost........childcare a close second!!!

Kotare

Despite BEVS disapproval of comparisons, my son is paying £1000 a month for nursery care in Wiltshire (9am to 6pm).It will be the same in Dorset when he moves next month.

Pom_Chch

Don't have kids

inkedneonurse

Could have used that kind of Thinking 14 years ago

BEVS

Just find them rather pointless TBH although it could interest those looking to SW England & their own UK income and expenditure budgets.

It depends what % of one's NZ net income this takes up given there will also be mortgage/rents & other every day bills to be met.

Paddy 234 is talking about NZ costs and affordibility. Escapedtonz has written a relevant quality post.
Thanks escapedtonz.

Pom: I await an 'announcement' from you that I shall become a cyber BE grandma although I , of course, totally approve of the pusscats.

Tom H

Quite simple
We had to adjust our budget for our kids.
We currently spend $140 on our youngest as our eldest gets 20 ECE. They only do afternoons as we don't need to put them in all day.
When it was our eldest in full time, we spent $245 a week.
It's the best money we spend on them. They get to interact with other kids, learn things, make friends and are able to have fun whilst my partner and I are working.
We chose to have them, we knew they cost so we both made sure we worked to fund this. If the costs weren't worth it, one of us wouldn't work.
Although I would prefer they'd extend the 20 hours to 2 year olds (some preschools do) but you can't have everything.
If there's an ABC centre by you, book them. They were fantastic in Merivale with my eldest. Pricey but well worth it.

Bo-Jangles

Have you checked out your local Kindergarten association, they are not-for-profit and operate on lower fees than most private daycare facilities.

Kotare

Before you 'shop around' for the cheapest solution there is also an element of you get what you pay for and I am sure you want the best for your children (if you can afford it of course).

escapedtonz

Completely agree with Kotare.
Be very wary of cheaper childcare solutions. More often than not they'll be doing it cheaper by reducing the quality of the experience or the facilities for your children to reduce their overheads. They may also charge extras for food, or may ask you to provide morning/afternoon tea and/or lunch plus nappies/wipes etc.
You also have to factor in what you get (if anything) for the times when your child is unable to attend - e.g through sickness or holiday etc as you still have to keep paying...childcare through a facility is a contract for a fixed period or until you give appropriate notice.


I'll sound like a complete snob now, so shoot me for wanting to provide the best place for my children, but from our experience of looking around cheaper facilities you may find they don't employ the best teachers or very young teachers without a lot of experience and may attract a different clientele that may not fit with your expectations.

wakwak

It can also depend on where you live too, we have fantastic childcare and we don't pay through the nose, some childcare providers received subsidies in the outlying areas. For example Bluelight offer great school holiday facilities and can range from $20 a day through to $70 and beyond! It pays to research
Our carer has more facilities that you can shake a stick at, loads of outdoor space, toys, games, a pool, a playroom....