cost of childcare/childcare providers???

[andrewandjane]

hi looking into auckland area and to get as good house my wife may have to work too, in order to see if this is feasible does anyone have an idea of average cost for childcare. (we have a 2yr old and a 5 yr old)

or even whats needed to undertake paid childcare in own home as this could be another option?

lots of questions

[Oregonkiwi]

From what I've seen so far, daycare centres charge around $40 -$50 per day or around $200+ for a full week.

We're not having much luck finding daycare centres with available places so be warned that you'll need to plan ahead. (If anyone has any suggestions or recommendations for central Auckland/Mt Eden, please share!)

here's a couple of sites:
http://www.childcareonline.co.nz/cms/directory.php
http://www.nzchildcare.co.nz/auckland.htm

Barnardos runs in-home care where one person has up to 4 kids in her home, here's their website if you're interested in being a caregiver:
http://www.barnardos.org.nz/childcar...caregivers.asp

[Tia Maria]

Obviously childcare costs will vary from area to area, but here are some from North Shore, Auckland

Nursery 1 - Hours 9am-3pm, ages 3-5, you provide pack lunch, $35 per day ($33 per day if doing 2 or more days, not sure of the weekly rate)

Nursery 2 - Hours 7.30am to 5.30pm, ages baby to 5, $35 per day or $25 for morning or afternoon session (7.30-1 and 1-5.30). Provides lunch & snacks.

Holiday club - 9am-4.30pm, $35 per day, school age, you provide pack lunch (extra for trips)

After School club - 3pm-4.30pm, $8.50, 3pm - 6pm, $15

In home Childcare - Nanny - PORSE network, between $15 to $18per hour

There is a great range of costs for Nannies depending on age, experience, if they've had all the police checks etc.

Some people put adds here:

http://www.gumtree.co.nz/auckland/he...bs_3601_1.html
http://www.finda.co.nz/classifieds/j...y-babysitting/

Here are some other Nanny sites:

www.kiwioznannies.co.nz
www.tinies.co.nz/index/index.php
www.claro.co.nz
www.porsenz.com

With the majority of these childcare options you have to pay for holidays and if your child is sick. Also they offer discounts for more than 1 child, or more than 1 day. Some vary by a couple of $s depending on age (ie more expensive for baby care than for 3 year old care).

I've heard the Government is introducing subsidies for children over a certain age for 20hrs a week. But I'm not sure of the details, maybe someone on here will know more!

Cheers

Tia

[Tia Maria]

Oregonkiwi - just spotted your post and wanted to add ....

Its difficult getting places in our area also. The tactic some Mums use is to sign up with all the ones they like saying they will do any odd days. So the next time a child is sick, they may give you a call. Also there tends to be more odd days now as people are still on holiday.

Obviously this is not ideal as the days and hours are all over the place, but it will help you to jump the waiting list. I've known people being told of 12month waiting list, but getting regular childcare after 8 weeks by using this method!

Good luck with your search.

Cheers

Tia

[kiwidebs]

My two went to Kindercare (well, Cam still does) and I currently pay $145 a week for three full days (can put him in from 7.30 till 5.15 - although he is never in that long). It is cheaper if they're only in from 9-3, but that doesn't fit with work for me! We actually took the two days they had for Gemma and kept asking for times for Cameron and an extra day for Gemma - it took about 4 months before we had 3 days for both of them.
I really like Kindercare - both the daycare and the preschool education the kids get. Here's a link to their website http://www.kindercare.co.nz/

Debs

[Tia Maria]

Just thought I'd bump this in case anyone knew about the possibility of government help with childcare, something about 20hrs per week?

Cheers

Tia

[Oregonkiwi]

Tia -
http://www.minedu.govt.nz/index.cfm?...d=11253&data=l
"Summary: Up to 20 hours free early childhood education per week for three and four year old children is to be introduced for all teacher-led early childhood education services from 1 July 2007."

The plan is stirring up some controversy though, try searching the NZ Herald, it's been running a lot of stories on this topic. e.g.,
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/index.cfm?c_id=287

[kiwidebs]

I don't think Kindercare is going to touch the scheme - the govt isn't offering enough money for it to be viable for alot of the commercial places. I'm not sure why they can't do like they do in the UK. The preschool Gem went to charged £8.50 a session and the govt paid £7.50 a session (for up to five sessions a week) so once you were entitled to the govt contribution you just paid the extra £5 a week yourself. If you wanted one completely funded by the govt you had to 'shop around'. I'd love it if Kindercare worked it this way - I'd happily pay the extra on top if they could just get the govt contribution.

[Tia Maria]

Thanks for the links Oregonkiwi, really useful!

It looks like our pre-school is on the list, I guess we'll just have to wait till July to see if they have to up their fees in order to support this!

KiwiDebs, it does seem the obvious way to do it doesn't it? Perhaps you could have a word with them!

Cheers

Tia

[Tia Maria]

Bump!

Cheers

Tia