Family Hit By Rising Care Costs
Illawarra Mercury
Wednesday June 25, 2008
THE decision by ABC Learning Centres to lift long day care fees by 11 per cent has caused one Shellharbour family to rethink their child-care options.
Karl Witt and his partner Kristie Maitland have made the tough decision to pull their 11-month old son, Riley, out of Shellharbour ABC Learning Centre due to the increases, which were setting them back $30 a week."We just couldn't afford it, that is $30 in petrol for us," Ms Maitland said.Ms Maitland, who has previously worked in child care, and Mr Witt work full-time and are saving to buy a house at the end of the year."Despite the increased rebates, we can't afford to hand over the extra money in cash every week," she said. "We don't get the 50 per cent straight back, so that is more money out of our pockets."The Federal Government has said it will not tolerate any large fee rises by child-care providers in the lead-up to its promised rise in child-care tax rebates, which kick in on July 1, and promised to seek justification for the rise from ABC Learning, which is the nation's largest child-care provider. The Federal Government has increased the rebate for long day care from 30 per cent to 50 per cent. ABC Learning Centre chief executive Eddy Groves defended the company's decision to raise long day care fees to about $62 a day, up from $56, saying fees have always increased at the beginning of every financial year.The cost of child care has been rising steadily over the past two years, placing more pressure on families already struggling to cope with increased costs of living, interest rate rises and skyrocketing fuel prices.CARE SHAREWhat parents are paying per day - Long day care (meals included)Illawarra Area Child Care - $55-$59* Illawarra Children's Services - $50-$59.75* Bedrock Kids, Albion Park - $45Kids Uni, University of Wollongong ..- $70.40- $72.80 * Not-for-profit
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