Green Budget: Early Childhood Education for Everyone

The Green Party has unveiled its new plan to make Early Childhood Education (ECE) free.

“This is about making ECE for everyone,” says Green Party co-leader, Marama Davidson.

“Every child deserves the best possible start in life. However, ECE costs are a huge stress and barrier for many families.

“Families in Aotearoa face some of the highest ECE costs in the world. A lot of families pay around $10,000 a year per child – making ECE the biggest household cost after housing for many.

“One of the main reasons for this is corporate greed. Too much money meant for our children disappears into corporate profits, while parents pay sky-high fees and teachers earn far too little.

“Our plan makes ECE accessible for whānau while enhancing the quality of care our tamariki receive.

“We will initially cap charges at $10 per day per child on top of the current 20-hour free entitlement. This represents a significant shift from the $12 an-hour some families currently pay. By 2029, we will make ECE free by raising the entitlement to 35 hours a week.

“This is what ECE can look like when we put our kids first and push aside the corporate greed that is dominating the sector.

“A large portion of the Government’s funding for ECE goes straight into the pockets of for-profit chains. These for-profit providers benefit from hundreds of millions in public subsidies while charging high fees and paying low wages to teachers which impacts upon the quality of care. Teacher’s working conditions are our children’s learning conditions.

“Our Budget covers the full cost of delivering quality ECE, ending subsidies to corporations and instead supporting community-based and public centres that prioritise the needs of our kids, not the interests of shareholders.

“With a Green Government, whānau will have the confidence that their tamariki are receiving quality care, without huge costs,” says Marama Davidson.