The Daycare Struggle

I'm 27 weeks pregnant and in no way thought that I would be writing this post so early, when I haven't even had my baby yet!

I laughed when a colleague of mine asked if I had my name down on a waiting list, thinking she was just trying to be funny with all the other things I had been telling her I had to do. NO - it's a thing! Now I don't know if this is Australia-wide, but in Sydney at least, you are meant to be putting your child down for day care from pretty much the time you find out you are pregnant! You must be thinking the same as me - that's ridiculous! Yes it is ridiculous, but no, I'm not joking!

I'm a member on a couple of 'mum Facebook groups' now so decided to ask the question around whether people had issues with getting places etc. I was expecting people to respond reassuringly, saying that it all works out and you can always find a place. Nope! I had quite a response rate - the majority of which highly recommended that I put my name down NOW as at nearly 7 months, I'm already behind in the game! There was one lady who said that she had put her name down when 3 months pregnant and 1.5 years later, still hasn't got her place. There were a few who didn't get places in time for their return to work and resorted to getting nannies in the interim. I just had no clue that this was the case here...

Being from the UK, I always knew it was difficult to find the right daycare, as you obviously don't leave your precious child with just anyone, but I thought that was more about the quality of care. I never knew it was a thing to even be able to find a place at all!

Time to get researching...

The difficulty that I have is that even though we are renting presently, and we like the area, it is unlikely that we will buy in this same area. We are in the right direction of where we want to be, but cannot pinpoint exactly where we will move to next - soooo how do you get on to a daycare waitlist when you don't even know where the daycare will be?!!! The difficulty of not being from here is that it is unlikely that you will even have any family around, that you can base your decision on, to make it that bit easier.

After thinking hard about it, I came up with a plan to put our name down at 2-3 places in the areas where I think we COULD buy a place in, and also have an option in the City, as I do definitely know where I will be working. I thought that could be my solution, but I've hit a wall as even if I know which town we COULD be living in, I don't know where in that town it might be! Not as good a plan as I first thought. My attention therefore turns to City options first, even though the thought of bringing a buggy into the City in rush hour doesn't thrill me at all. In fact, I think I'm asking for trouble, but what choice do I have?!!

I'm pretty much tearing my hair out, as I really don't want to be taking the baby into the city, but I have no idea where we will be living later to make an informed decision about where to register. You also usually need to pay about $50 to register onto these waitlists too, so it's not as though you can just put your name down everywhere and then decide later. Okay, so a city option it is then... :-(

The next horrendous shock - how much daycare costs!! I had always heard that it is very expensive, but didn't really take much notice as I guess I assumed that people I work with were sending their kid to some sort of private, accelerate your children 2-3 years type of daycare. Not that I wouldn't want to do that, but it's just what I assumed the fuss with the cost was about. Nope! Daycare in Sydney and surrounding suburbs can cost from around $145 a day, up to a whopping $187 a day!! This is just the range across where I have enquired and may still vary higher or lower.

Now I know that there isn't a price you can put on the safety of your child, and I am in no way suggesting that you should just go for the cheapest option, but honestly, given that daycare is so in demand, it just feels as though parents are being taken advantage of as a result! The daycare providers know that the safety of their child is priority when they are not around to look after them, and that parents have to, and will, pay for that reassurance, whether it bankrupts them or not!

I was reading an interesting article on this just recently and it mentioned that daycare for infants actually costs more than many private schools per annum. That is just crazy.

There is some light - a tiny bit - at the end of the tunnel in the way of a some government assistance - Child Care Benefit (CCB) and Child Care Rebate (CCR). The former is dependent on income, whereas the later is available to everyone, though certain conditions apply for eligibility. You can find more info here for NSW.

https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/subjects/assistance-child-care-fees 

The CCR provides assistance of up to $7,500 per year, which sounds pretty good, but not really that much when you think that for example, at a day rate of $165 average per day, for 3 days a week, it will STILL set you back nearly $20k for the year!!! That's just for 3 days a week!! What the...??!!

The other annoying thing about the system is that generally all of these daycare places will still charge you even if it is a public holiday, or if your child is sick, or you are on holiday. The public holiday charging I just don't understand as they are closed so why should you pay? I get to a certain extent about holidays and if your child is sick, as certain overheads need to be met, but I don't by any means think you should be charged 100% of the day cost! Maybe a reduced rate, or a make-up day should be offered, but no, 100% charge coming your way. We all know that a child is going to be off sick for a certain amount of time - so do the daycare providers, and again it feels like they take advantage of that!

So I know it sounds like a lot of moaning, but I don't think I have met one person yet, or read on any forum, where someone has said that they think the amount they pay is worth it. As I said I would never just go with the cheapest option, without considering the safety and suitability for my baby, but even the cheapest option is crazy expensive! We all have to do it it seems, and I will too, as there is just no other choice but to do so!! So in return for me giving up my shoes and handbags, and general life, a child genius would be nice after this sort of investment from the age of 1, but let's see :-)