‘Harder to find daycare than a job’: Mum’s 60km commute with toddlers
In theory, Chennesse Kauika’s commute should only take about 10 minutes.
In reality, it takes an hour.
She lives in Newlands, and works about 10 kilometres away in Tawa.
Yet, on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays when she pulls up to the motorway on ramp, instead of heading north she turns in the opposite direction to drop her two toddlers, who are strapped into their car seats in the back, at daycare on the other side of Wellington, in Brooklyn.
She then does a U-turn and heads straight back up State Highway 1, arriving at mahi, at the Woolworths warehouse in time for the start of her shift at 9am.
When her work day wraps up at 3pm, she drives the route again in reverse. In total, she spends about two hours per day in the car.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to work for us,” she says.
Kauika and her husband had originally planned to enrol Arlo, who will turn 2 next month, and 1-year-old Ahsoka, full time in an early childhood education (ECE) service much closer to home. However, they couldn’t find anywhere in Wellington’s northern suburbs with space for them both
She twice delayed returning from maternity leave due to a lack of childcare.
In March, the couple found two part-time — three days per week — spots at a kōhanga reo in Thorndon. They decided to take them in advance of Kauika returning to work at the start of this month because in her view, it’s “harder to find daycare than a job”.
Because her kids are only in care for limited hours, Kauika has not been able to return to her previous full time job, instead taking up another role within the company. She works school hours on Thursdays and Fridays, but hopes to pick up extra hours on a Monday too when they become available.
Right around the time Kauika went back to work, the whānau found out the building the kōhanga reo is in had been classified as earthquake prone.
While strengthening work is done, the centre has temporarily combined with another daycare, in Brooklyn.
Whānau have been told the renovations will take several months.
While the fees at the second centre are comparable to what they were at the kōhanga — the couple have gone from paying $432 per week in total to $426 per week for both children — the new arrangement works out more expensive because at the kōhanga food was included, whereas they now have to pack lunchboxes for the tamariki.
Then there’s the cost of the extra petrol. Kauika says she’d welcome any policy changes to make ECE both more affordable and more accessible for families.
Camille Furnandiz, spokesperson for the ECE Parents Council, says Kauika’s predicament sounds like a “nightmare”.
It’s difficult for parents to find any ECE spaces close to home as it is, let alone high quality ones.
Spots for baby and toddlers are even more limited because centres must be staffed at lower ratios for provide care for under 2-yearolds — one kaiko to five children, compared with 1:10 for 2 to 5-year-olds.
In Furnandiz’s view, the Government’s decision to axe a planned extension of the “20 hours“funding for 3 to 5-year-olds to include 2-year-olds would exacerbate the problem.
While Minister for Regulation David Seymour has announced plans to change rules which determine where new ECE centres can open — they have to prove there’s a need for their service — Furnandiz is doubtful that this will help because, she says, some centres may decide to only accept 3 to 5-year-olds because it’s more lucrative.
Instead, she’d like to see the Ministry of Education mandating that provide enough ECE spots for under 2s to meet demand.