20 free hours backfires
Labour’s election pledge of 20 free hours of childcare has been slowly but steadily blowing up in their face. It has been a series of retreats and then a miniscule uptake. The latest fiasco is that even the care centre where Helen made the anouncement in 2005 “is getting cold feet about the scheme”.
The Early Childhood Council remarks:
“Parents are going to be absolutely furious to find, after being promised a reduction [in childcare fees] of $90 a week, that they are not going to get it,”
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Tags: Labour
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:58 pm
> “Parents are going to be absolutely furious to
> find, after being promised a reduction [in
> childcare fees] of $90 a week, that they are
> not going to get it,”
Ha fucking ha. Serves them right for voting themselves more of other people’s money.
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:15 pm
What does a slow explosion look like anyway?
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Twenty free hours of left wing indoctrination. Why else would Mallard be so keen on it? The left love fooling with children’s minds..
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Why would anyone be disappointed, this is nothing different to the lies and deception this regime prides itself upon, in the Oxford dictionary under BULLSHIT it says “see Helen”.
At the next election what are they going to offer those in state houses for their vote, a new car, a trip to Fiji? get your prize before you cast your vote, cause they are nothing but a dishonest pack of “BASTARDS”
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Yes – the phrase “lie, cheat and steal” comes to mind rather easily…
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Just as well they didnt vote for nationals tax cuts and find they didnt appear either.
Unless of course you are big company . They would also have had the 4 weeks holiday pay for employees cut back to 2 weeks.
The people over $100,000 would have had thier tax cuts pronto
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:56 pm
I am on the governing committee of my child’s kindergarten. All of the committee are professionals and/or all have tertiary qualifications and none of us can find a solution that satisfies the parents, the childcare centre nor the govt who is dishing out OUR money in the first place. We have been turning ourselves inside out trying how to implement the so-called ’20hours a week free child care’, it is full of fish hooks and caveats that make it near imposssible to fulfill.
The subsidy does not cover the real cost of running pre-school centres and the govt has also made it a requirement that all pre-school teachers be fully registered with appropriate tertiary qualifications by 2008 but has made no financial allowance for the increased wage cost associated with the compliance.
You can ask parents for a ‘donation’ to make up the true cost gap but you cannot enforce it. Many centres are not going to risk financial ruin on such uncertainty.
Why oh why can’t the govt simply allow the parents to pay the childcare centre the ‘free 20 hr a week subsidy’via the IRD direct to the child care centre and then allow the childcare centre to bill additional costs separately to the parents?
I am convinced, after much angsting and meetings about this, that the bureaucrats have made it unworkable and if they are really serious about delivery rather than platitudes, they will revise and simplify the whole thing ASAP.
February 23rd, 2007 at 2:04 pm
“Unless of course you are big company . They would also have had the 4 weeks holiday pay for employees cut back to 2 weeks.
The people over $100,000 would have had thier tax cuts pronto”
Thanks for that Michael Moore.
iiq374 – So you think Helen is a fan of the first songs off Tool albums then? Lets see…:
Undertow (Intolerance):
“Lie, cheat and steal.”
Ænima (Stinkfist):
Well she has been giving the public a right old fisting, so no need to explain that one…
Lateralus (The Grudge):
“Desperate to control all and everything”
10,000 Days (Vicarious): “Don’t look at me like I am a monster… Why can’t we just admit it?”
Spoooky… =)
February 23rd, 2007 at 3:47 pm
“I am convinced, after much angsting and meetings about this, that the bureaucrats have made it unworkable and if they are really serious about delivery rather than platitudes, they will revise and simplify the whole thing ASAP.”
I disagree Sally – the bureaucrats at the Ministry of Education have faced a near-impossible task trying to build a credible framework for a policy that was conceived on the hoof in a desperate effort to win an election.
As part-owner of an ECE service, we face a major dilemma – either we opt in to 20Free, and accept what amounts to a 45% decrease in funding or we hang tough, and run the risk of significant roll-loss to services who are offering 20Free. We are a small business, and our bank manager’s generosity is sadly, not limitless. We can only hope that Maharey & Co will accept that the policy in its present form is unworkable, and revisit funding rates – however, we’re not holding our breath, given this government’s proven reluctance to admit that they might have got it wrong!
February 23rd, 2007 at 7:56 pm
I don’t think Labour intend it to be unworkable. However, they don’t seem to have very good skills in turning vision into workable policy. This really is their achilles heel, especially as the longer they are in government, the less credible it is to blame problems on National.
Not sure what the solution is. And yes, I’m sure National has Achilles Heel’s of its own.
February 23rd, 2007 at 8:13 pm
What a monumental cockup!
Greed has bitten them on the bum once again.
Roll on 2008, and to think I once voted for this lot of yobbos.
February 23rd, 2007 at 11:49 pm
I bet Mallard and/or Clark force a turnabout on the part of that care centre; you don’t get to embarrass Dear Leader like this.
February 24th, 2007 at 5:40 am
One simply cannot countenance the possibility of Helvis being denied photo opportunities of “doing warm” with small cute children in 2008.
February 24th, 2007 at 7:53 am
Nationals child care policy is small tax cuts for working people and big tax cuts for business and those ‘earning’ over $100,000.
Satisfied !!
You people must be bonkers if you think National will grow in any form government expenditure.
Interesting to see those involved in the ‘industry’ only see the dollar signs. And the temerity that people should be ‘qualified’.
You should try working with large business they will screw you even harder than the government and then take months to pay.
The Kiwi way is to look at the government as a soft touch.
February 24th, 2007 at 8:53 am
And National’s child care policy? Ah …we’ll get back to you later this year….
February 24th, 2007 at 11:12 am
monckton and rag seem pretty keen to change the subject don’t they.
Couldnt be because a ideologically driven election bribe has come back to bite them is it?
It would be very easy to subsidise childcare fairly and equitably, but of course the Labour Govt had to design a scheme that punishes businesses and meets teacher union preferences.
So it doesnt work in practice – hey who cares? In fact it worked exactly as intended, it helped win an election, and by cauterising the issue early, hopefully people will have forgotten by the next election.
Then the unspent money can be promised to some other constituency group, and so it continues…
As a small government libertarian I think the Labour Government should be congratulated on its efficient policy design. This one is pretty much fiscally neutral. Well done Steve and Trevor!
February 24th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Same argument that the Govt had trying to subsidise doctors and PHO’s…another “private enterprise industry” that wasn’t providing an essential service at a price that many people could afford, and had to be dragged kicking and squealing into doing so.
Remember all the footdragging and whining about how the mean old govt was trying to screw them over and how GP’s would all go out of business en masse? It was all going to be the end of the world as we knew it if you listened to certain medical industry PR spinners…
February 24th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
That’s right RedRag. At $55 per GP visit, I am so grateful for the Labour party subsidy. Subsidise some, so others foot the bill. Preferably not Labour voters though. This ’20Free’ policy will bite them where it hurts – Labour voters.
February 24th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
That’s ok Joely, and I’m sure you would also sooner the doc’s waiting room wasn’t clogged up with all those squalling snotty nosed brats the lower class unwashed scum keep dragging in from their unheated hovels…
February 24th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
red rag – National had a detailed policy last election. It was to make child care costs tax deductible up to a certain level. This would have avoided all the problems of Labour’s scheme.
February 25th, 2007 at 8:12 am
Shocking, a simple targeted and efficient approach that gave parents choices and didnt involve the childcare industry in jumping through government hoops.
Hey Rag, the parents of NZ dodged a bullet by electing Labour there didnt they?
February 25th, 2007 at 9:38 am
“all those squalling snotty nosed brats the lower class unwashed scum keep dragging in from their unheated hovels”
No argument, just the normal stereotyping and propaganda of the socialist religionists, underpinned as always by the simplistic leftist mantra “left good, right bad”. Here’s the left, Rag and his altruistic gang, who care (really care) about “the children”, whilst the right just wants to eat them.
Rag examples again the brain damage that afflicts all leftists in that they cannot compete on an ideas basis. If you’re prepared to bandy words about the best way to implement socialist policy, they’ll grant you legitimacy. Oppose the whole concept of socialism, and you’re labeled as an uncaring heretic (or crazy).
This strategy exposes the left’s real agenda. Its not altruism that motivates them, its their obsession with political power. If they cared about raising living standards, they wouldn’t be socialists. If they weren’t blind ideologues, they wouldn’t preach socialism. All over the globe any objective and sane observer can see that if there’s one way to destroy a country, to rip its heart out, to make its people spiritless and hopeless, its to impose the religion of socialism upon them.
Anywhere the socialists hold power, and have incrementally and deceitfully infected the citizenry with their sad sick disease, you’ll see the negative effects. High crime rates, massive levels of welfare dependency, low standards of living, and a social malaise and lack of spirit, a hopelessness most often manifested in widespread drug use.
It is not socialism and government dependency and reliance on the deceitful “altruism” of power crazed leftist zealots like Rag or Helen Klark that lifts standards of living and improves the quality of life. It is the natural growth and development of the human spirit that does this, the freedom to pursue your own destiny whilst enjoying an independent self reliant and confident mindset. The very mindset that socialists work night and day to destroy.
Your duplicitous strategy of labeling the right as the destroyers and the left as the benefactors of the poor Rag, as with most things on the left, is a complete reversal of the reality. You don’t care about anything other than political power. So don’t come on here with your simplistic holier than thou bullshit about “the children”. In the new millennium, your soviet/Stalinist style propaganda with its clear objective of keeping such as you and Helen Klark in the halls of power at the expense of those you profess to care about, just doesn’t wash any more.
February 25th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Actually, RedRag, my waiting room only seems to be full of sick people. Don’t quite understand that one yet…
February 27th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Did anyone else see Steve Maharey on TV saying he had not heard of any negative publicity regarding the free childcare proposal? I ask you, who is this man listening to? This government refuses to even acknowledge any dissenting voice hoping that if it is ignored it will go away.
Personally, I would not mind paying $90 a week as a top up. Beats paying $290 a week any day. This government is only putting more government officials in the way of the average New Zealander, and charging us for the dubious priveledge.
A tax credit, as proposed by National, would have been a less expensive and far more effective tool to acheive this aim. However, I am rapt with the response of the Early Childhood Educators to this whole mess. Funny how those tasked with teaching 3,4 and 5 year old kids can’t make our government see sense.
March 4th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
As a owner of running childcare I beleive its not gonna work the way they want ,They have to find a better alternate.
May 6th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
We are a group of motivated parents who have started a petition regarding the Government’s 20 Hours Free policy. We have called our group “20 Hours Free. Please” and our aim is to raise awareness amongst other parents about what the Government promised for three and four year olds and why many children, like ours, are likely to miss out when the scheme becomes operational from 1 July 2007.
Our petition requests that sufficient funding is allocated to make this work for families and centres. We understand that many ECE providers would like to offer this scheme but are unable to due to insufficient funding and the inability to charge top-ups to parents (and that this concern applies to both private and not-for-profit centres).
When the Government told the electorate that all three and four year olds would be eligible to receive 20 hours free early childhood education, there was an expectation that that would be delivered. Nothing less. However, take the example of a sessional centres which is being offered an extra $1.10 approx per hour per child (on top of the existing subsidy) for services that parents currently pay $6.50 per hour per child to recieve. This example, typical of what our centres are describing, shows that the Government rates are inadequate and that they need to be re-examined.
Help us ensure that as many families as possible are able to benefit from the 20 hours free policy and that it is not just a lottery for the lucky few. Please sign our petition and better still visit us at http://20hoursfree.blogspot.com
and learn more about this issue. You can also print off more copies of our petition and help us by circulating them in your community.
Signed petitions should be returned by 31 May to:
20 Hours Free. Please
Private Bag MBEMI07
Auckland 1142
Thank you for your time. For further contact email us at 20hoursfree.please@gmail.com
May 6th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
We are a group of motivated parents who have started a petition regarding the Government’s 20 Hours Free policy. We have called our group “20 Hours Free. Please” and our aim is to raise awareness amongst other parents about what the Government promised for three and four year olds and why many children, like ours, are likely to miss out when the scheme becomes operational from 1 July 2007.
Our petition requests that sufficient funding is allocated to make this work for families and centres. We understand that many ECE providers would like to offer this scheme but are unable to due to insufficient funding and the inability to charge top-ups to parents (and that this concern applies to both private and not-for-profit centres).
When the Government told the electorate that all three and four year olds would be eligible to receive 20 hours free early childhood education, there was an expectation that that would be delivered. Nothing less. However, take the example of a sessional centres which is being offered an extra $1.10 approx per hour per child (on top of the existing subsidy) for services that parents currently pay $6.50 per hour per child to recieve. This example, typical of what our centres are describing, shows that the Government rates are inadequate and that they need to be re-examined.
Help us ensure that as many families as possible are able to benefit from the 20 hours free policy and that it is not just a lottery for the lucky few. Please sign our petition and better still visit us at http://20hoursfree.blogspot.com
and learn more about this issue. You can also print off more copies of our petition and help us by circulating them in your community.
Signed petitions should be returned by 31 May to:
20 Hours Free. Please
Private Bag MBEMI07
Auckland 1142
Thank you for your time. For further contact email us at 20hoursfree.please@gmail.com
June 12th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
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