The Star: August 01, 2019

Thursday August 1 2019 The Star
news online at www.star.kiwi
RATEPAYER SUBSIDISED CHILDCARE DEBATE
NEWS 11
Mother says it’s ‘a slap in the face’
City councillors will vote this month over whether
they will accept a new policy which will allow them
and community board members to have their
childcare subsidised by ratepayers. The subsidy
was widely criticised by The Star readers last week.
Reporter Louis Day speaks to a mother on the
minimum wage and a community board member.
On page 12, we ask city councillors how they will
vote,
LILY HALL earns the minimum
wage, pays for childcare, has a
mortgage and rising rates to deal
with.
She saw it as a “bit of a slap in
the face” the city council may be
adopting a policy which could
see councillors and community
board members reimbursed for
their childcare needs using ratepayer
money.
“There are government systems
set up for that and if they are not
in that bracket they are obviously
earning enough to not need it,”
she said.
Miss Hall and her partner
spend $60 per week on childcare
and are not eligible for any of the
Government schemes due to their
combined salary.
“I just don’t know about doing
this childcare subsidy just for
councillors and community
board members, maybe we
should look at the bigger picture
and look at adding another
week on maternity rather than
something just for a select group
of people.”
Miss Hall thought there were
other ways of encouraging parents
to run for leadership roles.
“They could look at other
options like putting a childcare
centre near the building rather
than giving them money.”
She said the news elected members
could have their childcare
paid for out of the ratepayer’s
pocket was difficult to swallow
after the appointment of the new
$495,000 chief executive Dawn
Baxendale.
“I understand that it is an
important role with a lot of
responsibility, but for somebody
on minimum wage that is
something that they would have
to work 40 years to get.”
The new
policy from the
Remuneration
Authority which
allows council’s
to reimburse
elected members
for childcare was
released at the
start of July.
If adopted by a
council, members
are eligible to an
allowance only
if their child is
under 14 and the
childcare is not
provided by a
family member.
Childcare
allowances are
also limited to
$6000 a year per
child.
The city council
will decide
whether it will
adopt it or not
this month.
HAPPY DAYS: Lily
Hall plays with her
nine-month-old
daughter August.
Local politician: Why the policy is good
JO BYRNE juggles being a
single parent, speech and
language therapist and member
of a community board.
Ms Byrne has to rely on family
members to look after her 10
and 11-year-old when she has
board meetings. When they are
unable to she has to either take
them with her or not go at all.
“The cost of childcare is tricky
with the age of children I have,
they are not in a pre-school so
I would need a nanny who can
prepare a meal and drive them
to activities in the evening, that
would be very expensive and life
is not cheap as a single parent,”
she said.
The Papanui-Innes
Community Board member
said the Government subsidised
out-of-school care and
recreation programme did not
satisfy her childcare needs as it
is not offered during the times
she has community board
MORNING RUSH:
Papanui-Innes
Community Board
member Jo Byrne helps
get her 11-year-old
daughter Harriet ready for
school.
PHOTOS:
MARTIN HUNTER
meetings in the evening.
She thought if elected members
were reimbursed for their
childcare it would open up the
door to a wider range of people.
“I think it is great that they
[the city council] could be offering
this and, hopefully, it will
give more people the opportunity
to represent their communities.
We need to equitably
represent the communities who
are affected by the policies local
authorities implement, and the
strategies they promote.
“We also need more young
women for the same reason. Local
Government New Zealand
2016 figures show that only
eight per cent of women elected
to local government were aged
31 to 40. A miserable two per
cent were aged 18 to 31.
“They are the ones with children
and they are the ones for
whom this policy would help to
get into leadership roles.”
However, she felt those with
families not wanting to go into
local government roles also deserved
a bit of extra support.
“How we support working
families, in general, is an issue
that needs to be addressed,
this should not just be about
a particular sector of the
workforce.” •Women’s council
responds, page 16