A lack of Gunnedah child care positions is forcing local families out of town or even out of a job altogether.
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Local mum Stacey Budd struggled to find placement in Gunnedah for her 11 month-old baby boy, Jack.
“It’s just ridiculous,” Stacey said. “There was an 18-month to two-year waiting list one place told me.
“The [child care] centres are nearly impossible to get into. It makes going back to work so hard… I was ready to resign if I couldn’t get child care.”
In desperation Ms Budd looked to her employer who secured her work at Narrabri where limited child care spots were available.
Gunnedah’s Mary Ranken Child Care Centre is running at maximum capacity and has a waiting list extending almost two years.
“We’re only licensed to cater to a certain amount and we’re full,” a centre spokeswoman said.
Over at Goodstart Early Learning, their wait list is 10-11 kids long for this year alone. Their licence dictated they were capped at 12 places due to “space considerations”, but still the requests pour in.
“We’re getting three calls a day,” a Goodstart spokeswoman said.
The situation was not much better at Gunnedah Family Day Care (GFDC) which offered home-based child care from birth to 13 years. They had 163 registered children, 20 families on the waiting list for this year and a further nine in 2017.
Holding back more positions at GFDC is an urgent need for more educators. And given their “minimal government funding” will cease in mid-2018, a potentially even greater financial strain could be felt by parents.
“Our service is in a good financial position but costs may rise for families,” GFDC manager Kerry Patterson said.
Chief executive for Childcare Alliance NSW, Chiang Lim, said demand for more places had increased exponentially as more parents returned to the workforce.
“Employment is going up on part-time jobs, more people are returning to work and that’s a having an effect on child care places,” he said.
On Wednesday Premier Mike Baird’s announced funding increases of $115 million for NSW pre-schools but it was unclear how much would be set aside for long day care places. Mr Baird said the funding would cut pre-school fees by 30 per cent and increase its affordability for those doing it tough.
“We have listened to the sector and to parents and we are committed to making a quality childhood education affordable for all,” he said.