NZ childcare costly – report

A new Unicef report on childcare rates the quality of services available in New Zealand as third best out of 41 wealthier countries but also among the most unaffordable.

Overall, this country ranks 33rd for childcare services, with New Zealand also near the bottom of the list for the amount of paid parental leave provided, and 27th for access to services.

Luxembourg tops the table, followed by Iceland, Sweden and Norway, with the first large country on the list being Germany in fifth spot. The United Kingdom is at 35, Australia 37, and the United States 40.

The report, published yesterday, ranks countries based on national childcare and paid parental leave policies, including accessibility, affordability and quality of childcare for children from birth to school age.

Factors supporting the quality of New Zealand childcare included a child-to-staff ratio of 6.5, and the requirement that early childhood education (ECE) teachers have a minimum qualification of a bachelor’s degree, Unicef said.

But when it comes to childcare affordability, a couple on the average income in New Zealand needed to spend more than a third of one salary to pay for two children in full-time childcare. That was second-highest out of the 41 countries, behind Switzerland.

This country rated a little better when it comes to childcare costs for a low-income single parent, with Unicef calculating that in New Zealand they need to spend 14.9 per cent of their income.

In this country, parents were entitled to 20 hours of free ECE per week for children aged 3 to 5, Unicef said.

Near the top of the table, Denmark had unconditional free access to ECE, starting from before the age of 1 and lasting up to age 5.

There were concerns the cost of childcare in New Zealand meant tamariki may be missing out on their right to access quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education, Unicef said.

Unicef New Zealand said it commended the Government’s moves in recent years to increase the amount of paid parental leave to 26 weeks.

Paid parental leave available to the primary carer of a child rose to 26 weeks from July last year. It can be split between parents, and is worth a maximum of $606.46 a week before tax.

Unicef calculated the amount provided in New Zealand was equal to 8.4 weeks of a mother’s full pay. That was the fifth-lowest among the countries in the survey.

New Zealand was also one of just four countries with no paid parental leave for fathers, although in most countries the amount provided for fathers was lower than that for mothers. Japan was an exception, with mothers having 36 weeks of fullypaid parental leave and partners having 30.

Unicef NZ chief executive Michelle Sharp said that in this country her organisation’s aim was to build on the increase in paid parental leave in recent years.

A high priority was to get the 20 hours of free ECE per week extended to also cover 1- and 2-year-olds, rather than just being provided from the age of 3 until children started school. Unicef would like to see New Zealand introduce targets for increasing paid parental leave, along with ECE affordability and accessibility, Sharp said.

New Zealand ranks 33rd for childcare services and is near the bottom of the list for the amount of paid parental leave provided. Unicef report on childcare