I work 22 hours a week, with my son going to daycare 3 days a week and my daughter 2 (plus after school care one day a week). It costs me about $700 a fortnight in day care costs as we dont get the initial child care rebate, I earn about $1100 a fortnight. We also do not get any FTB, so in actual fact I get paid about $200 a fortnight (after you deduct what I would get from FTB if I stayed home). I have to drive 50kms every monday to collect my kids from daycare plus the additional stress of dragging them out of bed to get ready to go. BUT because I work 15 hours a week we get 50% out of pocket expenses back from centrelink every quarter.
I love my work and even though it doesnt seem worth it at the moment, I wouldnt have it any other way. I enjoy my child free time and I know that as time goes by the cost of day care will go down for us.