Child care rebate, feeling concerned...

[MantaRay]

I know we are ok until next year. At the start of this year our cc centre guaranteed not to raise fees again this yaer. I guess we have to wait and see what happens next year. As the owner has lots of other businesses and considers this his "hobby", I'm hopeful we will be ok.

[Tobily]

Our centre just put their fees up but it wasn't much, only a few dollars a day. ABC just announced a fairly hefty price hike the other day - I was talking to a lady I know who has her kids in ABC and their out of pocket for two kids was going up by $110 a week! They're considering pulling their youngest one out.

[Beatrix]

the only people not better off are mums who stay at home and use childcare for a day off

[Visitor7]

Thanks for that info BG.
Just out of curiosty, when you say that parents need to meet the work/study/training criteria, does that apply if you work half of the year, and not the full year?
Me for example, DH works full time, and I will be going back to work p/t in about 6 months. Does that class as meeting the criteria? Or do both partners need to meet the criteria for the full financial year?

[briggsy's girl]

you would get the rebate for the part of the year that you are working - although, if you're on paid or unpaid mat leave, you're still entitled to it for the time off work - i'd say for a maximum of 12 months - when it's processed you're asked for dated etc

while you're a SAHM, unless you're studying, or actively looking for work (ie, registered with a job network member), you won't qualify - but as soon as you return to work, you qualify

[misty]

In theory people are generally better off provided fees don't rise too much. but the problem with a REBATE is that you get it back at tax time. for alot of people it is nice to have lumpsum at tax, but not very helpful in meeting the day to day costs of living.

[2girlz]

I'm never better off and my centre has raised the fee's $2 for my 3 year old and $4 for nursery (which will hurt when I go back to work after bubs is born)

If you're not working you're still entitiled to 24 hours of reduced rate yet mums that work full time have 50 hours reduced even though child care centres charge you 12 hours a day for full time care to me that doesn't seem fair you should receive reduced rate for the full 12 hours a day

[mrsmac]

In theory people are generally better off provided fees don't rise too much. but the problem with a REBATE is that you get it back at tax time. for alot of people it is nice to have lumpsum at tax, but not very helpful in meeting the day to day costs of living.

Exactly Misty, I need it on a weekly basis not in a lump sum.

[briggsy's girl]

In theory people are generally better off provided fees don't rise too much. but the problem with a REBATE is that you get it back at tax time. for alot of people it is nice to have lumpsum at tax, but not very helpful in meeting the day to day costs of living.

it comes out quarterly, not annually

it's not ideal, but the logistics of arranging this weekly would be horrific from a processing standpoint. Child Care Providers only put in usage statements once a month to once a quarter - they only claim THEIR share of the child care benefit at that time. if it were changed to weekly for the half of usage fees, it would add extra processing for child care centres, FAO staff - and ultimately, it will hit the hip pocket of the consumer

i agree, there may need to be more places - but it's consumer driven and is, essentially, a private company - so if a business owner would prefer to increase fees rather than build another centre, the government can't do much about it. yes, centrelink/FAO help fund through CCB and rebate, and they will only do that for companies that have met a set of guidelines - but ultimately, child care is a private business, not a government run organisation, so they can't dictate what places go where.

Beatrix, the rebate is in place to help those that really have no choice. it's a way of encouraging those mothers that can return to the workforce to do exactly that. they may have no choice BUT to use child care, where a SAHP does. i can understand wanting to have some respite, and for some, to allow their child to socialise with someone other than mum and dad, but it's more of a want than a need (psychologically, it may feel like a need from the parents perspective, but i hope you can see where i'm coming from)

[Pandora]

Our centre just put their fees up but it wasn't much, only a few dollars a day. ABC just announced a fairly hefty price hike the other day - I was talking to a lady I know who has her kids in ABC and their out of pocket for two kids was going up by $110 a week! They're considering pulling their youngest one out.

My friends ABC also went up by $55 a week. Maybe its an across the board increase?

DS goes to an independant, not for profit centre, so they would have to be able to justify a price hike of that much in one hit. Normally it goes up by a couple of dollars a year. Last year there was no direct fee increase, but the centre hours decreased from 11 to 10.5 so there was an indirect hourly rise.

I agree with Kelly's original post - its very difficult. On one hand childcare prices are out of reach for a lot of families and on the other, childcare workers IMO should be paid more than what they are for the work that they do. I know the staff at our centre *regularly* buy items for the children (toys, books etc) out of their own pocket.