Daycare Costs - Gah!!

Sorry ladies, having a whinge...

Im looking to go full-time at work and sorting out finances;

With the extra hours I go up a tax bracket = less take home pay per hour, the new student loan repayment changes = even less take home pay, more daycare (will be $300/week!!! thats $15600/year!!) costs as well.

Going from approx 30hrs/week to 42hrs/week im only looking at being "up" $50!!! Whats the point!?

I hate being just over the upper limit for childcare subsidy. Its just not fair. Being too "rich" for any form of subsidy/tax refund makes you end up being very poor indeed.

Rant over

I think any tax/benefit system that makes you better off for not working or working part time, rather than working full time is just stoopid.

Part time work wasn't worth it to me at all once petrol and daycare was added in

That childcare tax rebate is insulting - can only claim for up to $900something each year - haha, thats like 4 weeks worth...

We pay our carer directly (in-home) and nope not a better deal... Although... DD is about to go full-time and shes taken 50c an hour off her rate for the extra hours - its not much, but does make a difference over time.

I think the limit is $70K-ish for a family income with one child - whats that like 2 parents earning under $35k each?

Youd think that by paying a wage (childcare) you could act as a business and reap all the rewards that come with it.

The whole system is stupid - I know its old, and getting overused these days, but we truly are looking at our options in Australia - I know ill have to pay my student loan back at a greater cost because of the interest - but I honestly think the wages will compensate for this.

Im over being so "rich" I cant afford to buy clothes, get my hair done, etc etc etc...

Youre freaking welcome beneficiaries

We went to aussie for three years purely to earn the big bucks and save the money for a house deposit haha! totally worth it, we lived in crap towns and for 18 months i didn't work coz a. there were no jobs and b. i didn't need to.
We came home with a new car and good house deposit and had paid for our wedding and had no debt at all (bar student loan but mine is so huge i am never gonna get that paid, thanks to being a student in the 90s when interest was charged from day 1).
It sucked sometimes being so far from home but we are such a better position than we were. The only thing is getting used to not being able to spend as much money when i go on maternity leave....well even now really...spend too much.

HOWEVER...we went over before we had DS and then he was a year when we came home and to be honest i would not have wanted to have lived where we did when he is the age he is now as he would have missed out on so much...even playing in the back yard was scary as there were brown snakes there. And to make the REALLy good money you have to go to the crap palces, going to the cities it is expensive and not as many jobs. We lived in Kalgoorlie for 18 months...6 hrs drive east of perth in the middle of the desert....then in North Queensland in a teeny town of population 2000. so yeah, the lifestyle can be crap and you have to be prepared for it ESPECIALLy if you have kids to consider.

Yup thats why I only work two days and am so so thankful my dad will watch my daughter for half the day and she does daycare for three hr sessions on the days I work so he gets a break.

Seriously, its effing ridiculous... I need to be earning $20p/h for it to be even worthwhile me working! DP earns just under the weekly limit for child care subsidy on his own but with me working and earning a measly $13.50p/h and only doing 15hrs a week we get pushed over the limit! Ridiculous! We are lucky we don't pay much where we live as with our parents but we are now paying part of their mortgage as well!

what pisses me off is

people who are on a benefit yet send there kids to fulltime daycare ..... and get it for a couple of bucks!

I dont think they should be entitled to it if not working clearly we pay them the dpb to be at home, if they dont want to be home with there kids then get a job .. sorry i dont mean to sound harsh but i would rather the $$ spend towards those middle income earners to get a little relief!!!

We pay full price daycare for 3 days of $200per week and our mums have her a day each their choice but we will forever be thankful.

Its hard we are over the limits for everything yet we dont feel rich at all :( I have no idea how people cope on much lower incomes. It would be just as cost effctive for us for me to work partime but its 'easier' in sence to work fulltime then i know where i'm coming and going work m-f have s and s off!

I dont mind paying for daycare our girl gets alot out of it i just get pissed the people that get it for pretty much free yet dont even work!

mizpix if you are a single mum you should get WFF, I guess unless you are on really good money like $50000 plus you dont?

http://www.ird.govt.nz/resources/c/3/c36ba4004a875383b2fbb7420a9d1401/ir271.pdf

I know for my friend who was on $33 an hour in the bank she worked out it was better to go to 25hr a week and then get all the subsidys / wff / accomodation supplement etc. but something for you to look into perhaps?

My sister when working 20hrs in a supermarket was getting about $800 a week in the hand between work/wff/subsidies/childsupport.

DPB'ers and SAHM dont get FREE hours at daycare, its 9 hours subsidised so depending on the price of your daycare and how much your DH works (if you are a SAHM) depends on the subsidy) for me it will cost $18 for 8hours when my youngest starts around 1 year old. Yes Im SAHM and its not essential for him to go to preschool but eventually I will go back to work when he is around 3 and other child at school. I rather start him at 1 yr for 8hours and then if I decide to go back earlier he is settled in and knows his teachers and environments.

I think with a toddler it gets to a point where its not about care its about them learning having fun and as a SAHM I need to do things like mow lawns and I cant do that when he is napping its too noisy and cant do it when he is awake, cant leave him unattended so I will use the time he is at daycare to do things like lawnes/wash windows, run errands without having to haul him in and out of the carseat bored to death. knowing he is instead having fun playing in the sandpit with caring teachers looking after him.

Isabella my sister was a single parent so child support was part of that $800 a wk, around $130wk for 2 children her ex hubby earns around $60k
she gets $120wk accomdation allowance
and working for families, she ended up as checkout supervisor as that was the best hours around her children on $14.50/hr


ive worked plenty and paid plenty of taxes but now we've had 3 under5, this time im not going back going to have a crack at this sahm business (did work between all of them)

Id have to say i think how the childcare subsidy works is unfair and perhaps a better way would be to base it on the mothers earnings only rather on joint income.

and it certainly sucks when you still have to pay daycare when children are sick!! esp when your own sick pay has run out anbd you have to take unpaid leave!

in my sisters case with 2 preschoolers and a broken marriage she was happy to receive wff / cc & accom subsidys as it ment she could afford to pay the bills and still have time with children.

mums careers can certainly take a hammering once children come on the scene hers did and so did mine, but im accepting of that and happy too be sahm for a while