National's proposed childcare rebate speaks to "the heart" of parents struggling to afford the rising cost, a childcare centre director says.
The FamilyBoost policy, announced as part of party leader Christopher Luxon's "state of the nation" address yesterday, will see families earning less than $180,000 receive a childcare rebate if National wins this year's election.
Luxon says families will get a rebate of 25% for childcare costs — equating to up to $75 per week, or $3900 per year.
The rebates will gradually reduce as family income increases from $140,000, according to National. The maximum weekly rebates for families earning $150,000, $160,000 and $170,000 are $56.25, $37.50, and $18.75, respectively.
"It is not right that you have to choose between your childcare or your house. That is not a decision that Kiwi families should have to make," Luxon said during the address.
New Shoots director Michelle Pratt told Breakfast this morning they're "thrilled for parents".
"What this talks to is to the heart of a parent in terms of making a choice, in terms of choosing any early childhood service, being able to afford any childhood services," she said.
"This will be of huge relief to a significant number of parents.
"I think also it will lift the value of parents in terms of enabling them to access high-quality childcare and to be able to make a choice into the service that they choose to make."
New Shoots received $19 million in Government subsidies, but Pratt said the funding "doesn’t even cover our wages" at the pay parity rate.
"Not a single cent of our Government funding goes anywhere but to pay for wages for teachers," she said.
Education Minister Jan Tinetti said while she's pleased National "have finally realised that families do need assistance with their childcare", it misses the complexity of the issues existing within the sector.
"It's a lot more complex than saying 'this is what we’re going to do, we're going to give out more money in this way'. It's about looking at the sector and working with the sector to work through those complexities," she said.
National’s promising help for Kiwis feeling the pinch. (Source: 1News)
Tinetti said the Government is currently working "with elements of the sector, experts in that area and looking for how we can make that so that those are achievable, those are affordable for our providers".
"But first and foremost, we want to make certain that we've got a really high-quality, functioning service that puts our children right at the centre of their learning."
Tinetti will be meeting with the sector this week and "looking through what our next steps are going to be".
"The key for me is the quality of the learning for these young people and that’s what parents are telling us is that we’ve got to make certain that we’ve got a high-quality education provision."
But parents say the concern isn't necessarily around the quality of the services provided but its cost.
Tinetti acknowledged the rising cost for childcare, saying there is work underway around childcare subsidies, which will come into effect from April 1.
"What we develop will be based on the evidence coming through from the work that we're doing and the analysis that we're doing in that area," she said.
"But as I said, working on the quality is also paramount. Working on the complexities of the sector is incredibly paramount to us as well and that's work that I'm looking into."
Pratt argued that early childhood services and the Government are "on the same page" on providing quality services for children and their parents, but there is a "disconnect between what the Government believes, what they would idealistically want, what they believe in".
"We believe in the same thing — completely on the same page. We want our qualified teachers to be paid appropriately, but what we have is a disconnect about what that's going to cost and who's going to fund that."
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