National’s early child care bureaucracy is woefully less than required
Childcare subsidies to start from July, families eligible for up to $75 a week
The FamilyBoost childcare subsidy will begin from 1 July this year, with the refunds being paid out from October, Finance Minister Nicola has announced.
Rather than being paid fortnightly as the party had proposed, it would be paid out once every three months, and parents would be required to apply using invoices from early childhood education providers.
National campaigned on the scheme ahead of last year’s election, promising a 25 percent rebate up to a maximum $75 a week on childcare costs.
3 things:
1: The bureaucracy is hilarious from a Government claiming to cut red tape and will cause working parents more hassle.
2: What Labour was offering was far better.
3: It goes no where to solving our problems in early education.
At the centre of the Gender Pay Gap is the biological reality women carry the babies. If we as a liberal progressive society want to ensure everyone has equal agency, then surely recognising biological reality is a starting point?
The first 12months should be maternity leave – or paternity leave, either one, but one of the parents should be paid to stay home with the infant for its first year of life. Who else do you want to look after an infant other than the parent?
Meanwhile, ECE should be nationalised and made completely free for 2 year olds to 5 year olds while all after school care should be free.
Childcare costs fall unevenly and unfairly on women, so why not eliminate those costsaltogether?
Playing the Gender Pay Gap Game even when implemented, doesn’t lead to the outcomes desired.
If women having babies is stunting their pay careers, then subside the cost of having that kid with 12months maternity/paternity leave, Nationalise ECE and free after school care.
Allowing a parent to stay home with their kid for a year, provide free early education care and free after school care would do more to live up to that promise than anything else.
We need to start fighting for tomorrow because none of the politicians are.
All we need to do to fund this type of universal upgrade of the social infrastructure is tax the rich!
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I don’t agree at all with ECE Subsidies.
The reason? We are subsidising private business that is operating to make a profit.
It’s well known that subsidies distort the cost structure of any industry.
Why can’t the ECE be funded just like school if we must have them. Better still have a wage structure that allows one parent to be able to stay home and look after kids or pay for the ECE if that’s what they want.
ECE certainly hasn’t helped to improve educational outcomes because in reality they are just childminding organisations.
I also totally disagree with things like working for families tax credits as they too are just corporate subsidies.
100% correct on all points uncle .The whole system is toast .Why are we paying tax as a worker then getting it back because the boss cant or wont pay us properly .ECE fees will magicly increase by $75 next week as do rents when the subsidy goes up .If we want to fix inflation and lower rents we should stop all forms of corporate wellfare such as working for families and the like .Bosses would then have to pay more or rents and prices would have to halve as would house prices .
The Board of Trustees system that we use for our schools provides the perfect governance model for state ECE centres. Or schools could run them in their catchment areas.
NZ Fist campaigned on the first $14k income being tax free, which never made the coalition agreement, yet those earning up to $140k can soon get a $4k cash back. Lucky the vaxer voting block are so blinkered by their stupid they won’t notice how they just got shafted.
But it’s the optics of how our taxes are spent, and on who and why, that’s so interesting. Just needs a left wing party to crack the cost of the needy:overall scheme of things ratio.
Using Winston’s 14k tax fee, rich prick child care and beneficiaries.
Earn 14k tax free = give it as part of a ubi. Works out at 269pw.
Single benefit @ 337pw and only extra $68pw cost to the country @ $3536 pa.
Government gives $3900pa to those earning $140k.