Child Care Centres Short Of Money

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31519, 6 November 1967, Page 14

Child Care Centres Short Of Money

A call for the setting up of < an authoritative committee > charged with the duty of im- ] pressing on the Government how best to meet the urgent i needs of child care centres 1 throughout the country * which are struggling for - existence, was made on Sat- 1 urday by Mrs S. Davies, of ’ Nelson, in her presidential ; address to the New Zealand ] Association of Child Care Centres at Marton. Mrs Davies, said there were now more than 260 such centres in New Zealand. “They are there because of a definite need and are an instrument of welfare which is essentia! if New Zealand society is to avoid some of the repercussions associated ' with such phenomena as solo parents, the urban needs of recently migrated Maoris and Pacific Islanders, handicapped children, the children of those incapacitated, and the children of those who for one reason or another must have fully-paid work and can make little or no provision for the care of their children while they are at work. Mrs Davies said the Free Kindergarten Association and the Play Centre movement had made solid and lasting contributions to pre-school education and they rightly received subsidies even though those were inadequate. But many children were not covered by those organisations and were provided for by Child Care Centres. This movement, however, apart from an occasional small grant from the Golden Kiwi Fund, received no subsidy, yet its needs were often greater. By and large it was being kept alive by dedicated workers, voluntary contributions and payments from those whose children were being cared for: but there was a limit to what parents could pay. The need for Child Care Centres had been accentuated by the great transition which was taking place in our nat-! ional life in which women j were needed for work in the l growing manufacturing indus-i tries. The transition had he

come very marked, but the hazards and problems it caused to family life had not been faced by society. “It is important that the people, the local and central governments recognise the essential nature of the work being done and to be done, and take positive action to help by financial means which make provision both for assistance with capital equipment and assistance with running costs," said Mrs Davies. i i I i 1