KEY POINTS:
More families are finding preschool costs easily affordable, according to a major new survey.
The researchers say the change is partly linked to the Government's controversial "free hours" early childhood education policy.
The independent study found 43 per cent of parents surveyed last year found early childhood education services easily affordable, up from 24 per cent in a similar survey in 2003.
But parents in the $30,000 to $49,000 income range were most likely to say they had some difficulties paying or found it "barely affordable".
Writers of the report - commissioned by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research - said even some high-income families had trouble with the cost.
"This indicates the difficulties of designing a targeted funding system that effectively caters for the disposable incomes of all families."
The study - produced by Massey University's Dr Linda Mitchell - said fees charged to parents for early childhood education ranged from nothing to $250 a week.
Kindergartens and playcentres were the cheapest, while education and care centres and home-based care was the most expensive.
Dr Mitchell said half the parents with children in education and care centres reported saving $40 or more a week after the introduction of the Government's 20 free hours of early childhood education for 3- and 4-year-olds.
One parent included in the study wrote: "I have eight children and while I would still have paid to have my boy go to kindergarten, I am extremely appreciative. One less cost in our life."
The scheme - introduced in July last year - was slammed by some in the industry who described its level of funding as dangerous and a threat to the quality of early childhood education.
Only 50 per cent of eligible Auckland centres opted in when it started - the lowest proportion in the country - while 62 per cent had nationally. Figures from July this year showed the proportion rose to 75 per cent in Auckland and 79 per cent nationally, still falling short of the Government's 2004 "landmark" promise that every 3- and 4-year-old in New Zealand would be entitled to it.
Dr Mitchell's wide-ranging report had a range of other findings about early childhood education services.
Providers tended to be open longer hours, partly to meet changing demands of parents.
Parents' involvement in their child's assessment had grown since the 2003 survey - with 80 per cent of parents last year being involved in activities, such as taking assessment portfolios home, compared with 53 per cent in 2003.
Staff recruitment and retention was a challenge, as was matching supply demands at the local level.
