Is child care a right?

Press, 14 November 1981, Page 10

Is child care a right?

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

Pressure for change in Government funding of preschool child care continues.

.New guidelines for childcare subsidies have been produced by the Department of Social Welfare, which came into effect on November 1, that go a long way towards meeting complaints about pre-school child care facilities.

But the main issue — whether pre-school child care is a right or a privilege — remains unresolved.

The report of the State Services Commission working party on early childhood care and education was presented to the Government in March; decisions on its main points are still awaited.

The Government sought submissions from a wide range of organisations on this report. These were received by August, and a special committee comprising representatives of the Departments of Health, Education, Social Welfare and Maori Affairs, the State Services Commission and the Advisory Committee on Women’s Affairs, reduced them to precise form. The submissions were presented to ihe Government with options and recommendations.

This document was considered by the Cabinet Committee on Social and Family Affairs, with the Minister of Social Welfare (Mr Gair) as chairman, but returned to the officials for more information.

The Cabinet Committee recognised it as a complex and sensitive issue, but also did not want to make any major policy decisions before the General Election.

But the new guidelines have been adopted for child care subsidies as part of a separate, if related, process. They were developed by the Department after three seminars were held during last May (in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch), and discussions had been held with a number of interested parties. These included the Childcare Association, which covers . voluntary centres, and the Private Child Care Federation, covering private centres.

No-one knows how many children are in child care in New Zealand.

The department would very much like to know the numbers, but to find out would require every child care centre to provide a return. It is considering setting up such an exercise. But it does know that Government financial help is rising sharply. On September 30. 1979, it was subsidising 526 children throughout New Zealand in child care centres; on March 31, 1981, it was subsidising 1960 children in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch alone. The department estimates there are about 2500 under subsidy throughout the country.

The department’s estimates for 1981-82 allocated SI.2M for child care subsidies; by the end of the first six months (at September 30) $840,000 had already been spent. It is to make sure that this money is being spent properly and that the new guidelines have been introduced.

The departnment does not see the new guidelines as a cost-cutting exercise. The

programme is designed to make it easier for eligible parents to receive the subsidy. It is designed to give financial help where it is in the best interests of children to attend a child care centre but where the parents would not be in a position to meet the full costs of that care.

A couple of months ago, the Government increased the maximum subsidy $2 to $15.50 a week. To qualify for child care subsidy a child must be under five years of age (or, in special circumstances, under six years if the child is not yet attending school); attend a registered child care centre of approved family daycare for a minimum of 12.5 hours a week; not be a disabled child for whom supervisors’ salary subsidies are paid in preschool or special care centres, child care fees; transport costs between the home and places of work. The new guidelines are not expected to add to the cost of subsidised child care. They are intended to make the subsidy available to private child care centres in parts of the country where it has not been available before, but also withdraw funds from those who should not have been receiving them in main centres by altering the method of their payment. Previously, children at child care centres attracted the subsidy through the approval of recognised sponsoring bodies. This system had arisen when most private child care centres were run by charities. With the growth of private child care centres, and their formation of a Federation, it had become

inappropriate to have the rapidly increasing numbers of children at centres supervised by sponsoring

Parents wanting to apply for the child care subsidy now have an application and financial self-assessment form. This form tells the department whether the parents qualify for the subsidy, because financial eligibility is based on the self-assess-ment.

Those parents with an income after tax of less than $lBO a week (joint income if married) are automatically eligible for the full $15.50 a week subsidy on financial grounds. Those with an income after tax of more than $lBO a week will qualify, providing there is a deficit after allowing a number of set deductions from their after-tax weekly income. These deductions include $6O personal expenses for each adult, $2O personal expenses for each child, and actual accommodation expenses up to a maximum of $lOO. This $lOO can include outgoings on a home property (such as mortgage payments, rates, house insurance and maintenance or rent or board payments). The Private Child Care Federation has, reluctantly, agreed to this financial Assessment as a means of setting subsidy allocations. But the Federation is still discussing with the Department the exact figures it uses, and wants them raised. Only new placements have to sign the self-assessment form after November 1, but all claimants for subsidies will have to do so by February, 1982.