Taking care
Leeanne Bland
April 23 2003 | Sydney Morning Herald

Parents need someone to look after their children while they work - but it can be expensive, reports Leeanne Bland.

Mortgaged-to-the-hilt Sydneysiders often find themselves working long hours. Combining work and child care can often seem logistically challenging and expensive.

Speaking at a recent Institute of Family Studies conference, Jeff Popple and Jay Martin from the Federal Department of Family and Community Services summed it up: "For families with young children, particularly where both parents work, child care is a vital support to social and workforce participation."

The child-care options for families are varied, as are the fees. It can range from family day care to long day care, from hiring a nanny to using the services of friends or relatives, or even a mixture of options.

Sara Wise from the Australian Institute of Family Studies says cost is not usually the main factor in choosing care. Her figures show that the cost of family day care is slightly lower than centre-based long day care.

"It's not a matter of those with a higher income using a centre and those with lower income using family day care," she says.

The child-care benefit, available for all families, evens out the cost of care, especially for low-income families (see Government Assistance at right).

Wise says there are many factors parents consider over and above cost: "It is about what they feel is in the best interest of the child."

For example, 80 per cent of children in care under the age of one are in informal care, she says.

"By the time the child turns three, mothers want children involved in a structured program where there are opportunities for learning, peer contact and socialisation. There is a greater uptake in older years for formal care."

How does each type of care work?

Long Day care
Long day care is probably the type of care most people think as being "child care": centre-based care where a child is dropped off at 8am or later and picked up before 6pm (some centres operate with longer hours).

Wise says fees average about $186 a week, although those who use long day care centres in Sydney know the costs can be higher. Fees per child per day of $40, $50, even $60 - and sometimes more - are not out of the question. A centre that charges $50 a day would result in a bill of $250 a week.

The advantages of long day care are the qualifications of the workers and the prominence many centres place on the educational requirements of babies, toddlers and children in their care.

The other advantage of this type of care is that even if one carer is off sick, the centre will arrange for a replacement, so that your child care arrangements are not affected.

But it can be a less flexible option, especially if you can't pick your child up by the 6pm deadline. Some centres charge parents a dollar for every minute they're late.

It's a more expensive option, but Monica and Paul Roseworn, the parents of Jonathon (main photograph) are happy with long day care (see Centre of Excellence at right).

Monica says she likes the social skills Jonathon acquires there, she appreciates the formal qualifications of the carers, and the centre is bright, colourful and serves nutritious meals.

For some parents, the advantages of long day care outweigh what they see as its disadvantages: the large number of children being cared for, and what some see as the institutionalised nature of the care.

Family day care
Less expensive than long day care, family day care is available for children up to 12 years of age, in a home environment through approved carers.

Jo Comans, executive director of the National Family Day Care Council of Australia, says its carers are accredited professionals, and about half of them are mums with their own kids at home.

Comans says co-ordination units are often run by local government or church groups and the unit staff train, monitor and provide resources for the care providers, ensuring home-based child-care standards are maintained.

Some parents choose family day care because of the small number of children cared for, and the children have the consistency on the one carer.

Comans says if you like the image of your baby asleep in a basinette in a bedroom with a breeze fluttering the curtains and birds chirping outside, than this may be the option for you, with its flexibility making it a good alternative for those who work shifts or irregular hours.

For Anna Faith, it was the "homely" feel of family day care, along with the smaller number of children in care, that sold her on it as an option for her two girls, Marissa and Arianna (see Just Like Home at left).

And the cost? Wise says you can expect to pay $164 a week for full-time family day care. Nanny
Probably the biggest reason people choose a nanny over other day care options is the staff-to-children ratio, says Cathy Clark from nanny agency My Little Friend.

"It's the choice between having your six-month-old baby cared for with a one adult to five baby ratio, or cared for on a one-to-one ratio with a nanny," she says.

"With a nanny, you know that all their needs are met all the time."

The other advantage of having a nanny in your home is the flexibility, Clark says.

"In a high-powered job you can't always walk out of the door at 5pm, but you can't be late to pick up the children from the centre.

"Having a nanny gives you a better quality of life."

There is no rush to get the children dressed and out the door in the morning.

Equally, in the evenings you can walk in the door and the children will be bathed and fed, the bottles made up, and you can spend the evening being with your children, rather than organising them, Clark says.

Of course, a nanny is an expensive option. You can count of paying about $15 a hour. For a five-day week, eight hours a day, that totals $600.

The initial costs are also more expensive, with agency "finder fees".

In the case of My Little Friend, that's $1320 for a five-day-a-week nanny. On top of that, you will need to think about holiday pay, sick pay and superannuation, Clark says.

It is also important to ensure that your insurance policy covers domestic workers' insurance.

"For 99 per cent of people it will be attached to their home buildings and home contents insurance," says Clark. If not, it can be obtained for about $40 a year.

She says the people who tend to hire a nanny are those with small babies, or those with more than one child. If you are paying $200-$300 a week for each child in long-day care, the extra cost of a nanny might be worth covering for the convenience.

Sharing a nanny - and the cost - with another family is an option, although a shared nanny will cost a little more. (Clark estimates $20-$22 an hour.)

Informal
Anecdotal evidence is that more Australians are using informal care, says Wise.

Quite simply, this is when you pay grandma, a neighbour or a friend to look after your little one while you go off to work.

The good news is that even if a friend or family member is looking after your child, you can still qualify for the child-care rebate.

According to information from the Family Assistance Office, as long as the carer is registered with the Family Assistance Office, this informal care can be classed as registered care.

Just like home

Anna Faith's daughters - Marissa, aged four, and one-year-old Arianna - are both in family day care. "Marissa has been three days a week since 2000, and Arianna now goes three days a week as well," she says.

Now that Marissa is older, Faith uses a mix of child care options. She recently dropped Marissa's time at family day care to two days, so that she can spend the other three days at preschool.

For her, the decision to go with family day care was an easy one.

"I like the family environment and I like the fact that there are fewer children being looked after," she says.

"I looked into long-day care as well. The centres were nice, but the staff were younger, and with so many children being looked after I didn't think they would get individual care."

Marissa had been on the family day care waiting list for some months, and she was fortunate that she was able to find a place three weeks before her mother was due to return to work.

"The carer, Rita, is based in the next suburb," says Faith. "She is a lady in her mid-50s. She has been a family day carer for 15 years, and has grown-up children of her own."

Although she was under no obligation to go with this particular carer, Faith says she knew when she met her that it was the right decision.

"I realised she was a caring and lovely lady. It was a homely environment - like leaving the girls with a friend or member of the family. I felt more relaxed knowing that I was going to work and leaving Marissa in such a caring environment," she says.

Over time, the carer has become like a member of the family. "Rita and her husband come to the kids' birthday parties and are involved in our lives," she says.

Faith pays $3.60 a hour, although she says her main concern is not the cost but the happiness of her children. Nevertheless, she says, "The child care benefit does help a lot."

She is happy with the safety standards and levels of precautions taken by her carer, and knowing that she operates under the guidelines of a national accreditation system is a reassurance.

Centre of excellence
Deciding what type of child care to put their baby Jonathon into was an easy one for Monica and Paul Roseworn. Long day care was their preferred choice from the beginning.

"I didn't like the idea of family day care at all, although I had friends who did," Monica Roseworn says.

Equally, she says, hiring a nanny was out of the question. "I wanted my child to develop social skills with other children."

Stories of waiting lists years long abound among parents, but Jonathon was in their chosen centre within a month of their first inquiry. "I guess I was one of the lucky ones."

Jonathon began at the centre when he was 10 months old and has now been there for two years. Roseworn initially started him at two days a week, but after he turned two she upped his attendance to three days.

The proximity of the centre to her work, along with a colleague's recommendation, were the main reasons she decided to give it a try. Once enrolled she visited the centre and says she was impressed with its child-friendly appearance.

Roseworn pays $53 a day for the care and receives a modest government rebate of $14.75 a week. But she says the price of care was never the major consideration. "I wanted the best for my child and I would pay whatever the cost was."

Her considerations were the number of staff and their qualifications, and that the centre was accredited.

"I liked [the fact] that a hot meal was served for lunch, and that it was bright, cheerful and friendly," she says. "But most

of all, I liked that Jonathon was happy."

With her second child due in September, Roseworn hopes the next child-care experience "will be as happy and easy as the first".

Government assistance

The Commonwealth Government assists families with the cost of child care through Child-Care Benefit (CCB).

Because CCB is a means-tested payment, the amount a family receives depends on their income. Low-income earners - under $30,806 a year - get the maximum rate, which for 2002-03 is $133 a week for one child in full-time approved care.

High income earners - those earning more than $88,000 a year (more for families with more than one child) - receive the minimum rate, $22.35 a week for each child in full-time approved care. CCB also supports care for non-work related purposes, to a maximum of 20 hours a week for each child.

Source: The Cost of Child Care, by Jeff Popple and Jay Martin, Child Care Benefits Branch, Department of Family and Community Services.