Child-care costs

Press, 13 January 1987, Page 20

Child-care costs

Sir,—lt is of serious concern to the N.Z. Childcare Association that the cost of child care has escalated beyond the reach of many parents, despite the availability of welfare subsidies. We support calls for the Government to immediately implement the 50 per cent salary subsidies recommended by the 1985 working party. Karen Harrison (January 8) uses differences between child care centre and kindergarten programmes to justify vastly different funding levels. Parents choose child care for many reasons, including hours, age of children, cultural sensitivity of programmes. Child care is not conjpeting with kindergartens for

funding. In fact, all early childhood education receives a very small amount of Government money, yet money spent here saves later spending on other services. “Child care” is often an important agenda for parents using kindergartens. Child Care looks forward to 50 per cent salary subsidies this year, as a first step in making child care accessible to more parents. — Yours, etc., PAMELA CROXFORD. National president,

N.Z. Childcare Association. January 10, 1987. Sir, —I take issue with the user-pays philosophy espoused by Karen Harrison (January 8) with reference to child care. Carried to its logical conclusion all parents should pay for the education, dental care and health care of their children. This would cut taxes and give a great boost to working women, who could then afford the fees at creches. Too bad about all the women at home with no income; they could all go and get jobs to pay for the privilege of being mothers. Perhaps a better idea would be for the Government to fund all child-care centres and recoup the cost from the companies in this country who pay little or no tax but who employ women in great numbers on low wages who are doubly exploited by paying through their taxes for others’ children to attend a free kindergarten and through their wages for their own children to have comparable experiences.— Yours, etc., T. E. MOON. January 8, 1987.