Childcare windfall swallowed up by bills

Parents Nigel and Serena Young say Devon requires daycare because they need two incomes to pay the mortgage. Photo / Greg Bowker

Serena and Nigel Young are a classic case of what Dr Don Brash would call "middle-class churn" of preschool subsidies.

Despite both earning what they describe as "reasonably high" incomes, they got a $70-a-week windfall when their son Devon turned 3 just over a year ago, qualifying for a higher subsidy for 20 of the 50 hours a week they pay for him in childcare.

"When he turned 3, I really noticed it, says Mrs Young.

But a year later, she says, "It's all been swallowed up by bills."

"We're not poor here, but I really don't believe we see that $70 as spending money. I believe it's gone," Mr Young adds.

"We used to spend $160 at the supermarket. Now we spend $200-$230, and nothing's changed, we're buying the same things. Electricity's gone up, petrol's gone up, food's gone up."

The couple live in a modest house on a back section in Beach Haven, a lower-income area of Auckland's North Shore.

Devon has been in daycare since he was six months old because they needed two incomes to pay the mortgage.

Mr Young, who works on the Shore, drops him off at 8am, and Mrs Young picks him up by 4.30pm or 5pm. But they pay for 50 hours a week because she works in South Auckland and sometimes gets caught in traffic.

"We've been criticised by daycare people for keeping Devon in care as long as we do. Some people are old-fashioned and think someone should be home with the kid," Mr Young says.

"In this day and age we can't afford that. We all have bloody mortgages at $2000 a month or whatever."

Says Mrs Young: "If I got the chance, I'd be at home. But I've been in a career for 20 years."

They put Devon in a childcare centre at first, but found he was always coming home with illnesses picked up from other children.

They moved him to a home-based care service run by a former kindergarten teacher with six children of her own nearby. Regulations allow her to have up to four children in care - at present two toddlers, another 4-year-old and Devon.

The home is part of a network of about 40 homes across Auckland run by Amanda McIntosh and charges an "optional" top-up fee of $30 a week for the 20 hours "free".

The Youngs also tried Devon in kindergarten for 15 hours a week, but found it was impossible to get away from work at lunchtime to deliver him every day back to home care.

They pay $150 a week for the 30 hours not covered by the 20 hours "free", making a total cost of $180. Without the 20 hours "free", they would be paying $250.