Early Childhood Education Funding

Playcentre www.playcentre.org.nz is a parent-run co-operative which provides early childhood education. It is indigenous to New Zealand and has provided a significant share of ECE service in NZ. However, to date Playcentre has been excluded from sharing in the funding the government makes available to teacher-led ECE providers. The reason given is that Playcentre does not charge high enough prices to parents. So therefore they cannot access the subsidies made available to other ECE service providers. Very odd given that the purpose of the subsidies is to reduce the price parents have to pay.

Playcentres have trained parents leading ECE sessions. They are NZQA qualified. So poor quality cannot be the issue. So why the discrimination? Maybe they just don't fit the funding formula that the Ministry of Education likes to work with? Maybe the parents running playcentres are not union members? In any case in a smart piece of political tactics the National party recently announced that it would bring Playcentres into the mainstream of ECE funding. The question now is whether Labour will at long last do the same?

Parents could use a tax cut too

This week the government cut the company tax rate to 30 per cent - down from 33 per cent.
“Reducing the company tax rate will allow successful businesses to re-invest a greater share of their profits in new technologies and in further building-up the skill base of employees,” Minister of Finance, Dr Cullen said.

“We expect that lowering of the company tax rate will serve to strengthen the competitiveness of New Zealand-based companies, and that is good for the long-term interests of all New Zealanders,” Minister of Revenue Peter Dunne said.

The cut to the company tax rate to 30 per cent is the first time the company tax rate has been reduced in New Zealand since 1988.

Dr Cullen said that the latest initiative is part of the Labour-led government’s economic transformation package that includes the significant moves on depreciation and other business tax measures announced in 2005, tax credits for R&D and changes to the tax treatment of savings vehicles.

It's good to see that many small and medium sized businesses will get some relief through lower taxes. But what about families relying on one main income? Parents Choice is writing to the various political parties urging them to give greater recognition to the plight of two parent families and to allow income splitting for tax purposes.

Income Splitting - An Idea Whose Time Has Come

During the last two weeks Parents Choice has received a significant number of emails and comments from people supporting income splitting and from news media interested in the campaign. The tide is coming in and support is rising for income splitting.

In the past 14 days alone various media including "Norwester", "Challenge Weekly", "Shine TV", "Scoop", and overseas websites have all published articles and news reports about the Parents Choice campaign for income splitting. We have had expressions of support from Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Waikenae, Lower Hutt, Wellington, and Christchurch. It has been amazing to see the widespread interest in a policy change that will show New Zealand values families and the investment of time and effort in raising children.

Please pass on the contact details to friends and relatives who might be interested in indicating their support for income splitting. We need the campaign to continue to gather momentum during March so that by the time the Government's Discussion Paper is relased there is already a strong movement for change. Email parentschoice08@gmail.com and show your support today. United Future has already pledged its support for Income Splitting. We believe that over the next few months National, Labour and other parties will also see the need to signal their support for the hundreds of thousands of full time parents who are busy investing in the next generation.