Kathy Wolfe: Early Childhood NZ CEO on the changes to the FamilyBoost scheme

Doubts over the amount of admin needed for families to get the FamilyBoost scheme. 

The Government's announced changes, which mean eligible families can now get 40% early childhood education fee rebates, up from 25%. 

The threshold household income has risen to $229 thousand. 

Early Childhood NZ chief executive Kathy Wolfe told Heather du Plessis-Allan ECE providers have to help families access the scheme, which creates more admin for services. 

She says it would better for providers to have more control, and help families afford the fees. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The government has made significant changes to the Flagship Family
Boost program. The income threshold for eligibility will change from
one hundred and eighty thousand dollars, it will go up
to two hundred and thirty thousand dollars, while the new
maximum rebate will be forty percent, up from twenty five percent.
Kathy Wolf is the chief executive of Early Childhood New Zealand. Morning.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Kathy more than Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
These change is going to make a difference.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
They will definitely make a difference to another you know,
a few more families. Not a hell of a lot though,
so yeah, we'll have to see not a lot.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
You don't think the sixteen thousand families predicted.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
No, I still think there's still too many barriers in
terms of access to their rebates.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
Well, you think too. This is in terms of the
people collecting the invoices for three months and then filing
it after the fact.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, and also the fact that you know, many of
these families who really need it still have to pay
the fees upfront and then pain the rebates. And as
you say that, you know there's still challenges was the
actual process of doing so? Ah?

Speaker 1 (00:56):
So, Kathy, the biggest problem is still the admin of
this thing.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, correct.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Now, look, do you think of family earning up to
two hundred and thirty thousand dollars a year actually needs welfare?

Speaker 2 (01:08):
It depends, Yeah, at the cost of living at the moment.
Just as you know, it's just is just causing a
lot of challenges for families. And whilst you know, turn
a thitty cap per family sounds a lot, they're still
you know, they still got all the other cust them
orgages and all those kinds of things. So it definitely,
it definitely will help, will help families. We just really

(01:30):
hope that it is going to be excessed, you know
that those extra sixteen thousand families will access the family
boost I mean for us and for our members because
the providers they help these families trying to access it.
So again it's also creating more admin for early childhood services.
So for us, the better way to do something like

(01:51):
this is to really put it in the hands of
providers to help families, you know, afford the fees. You know,
if you fund if you invest in early time a
more meaningfully, which is the funding reviews coming. We just
think there's too many things out there for families who
have to move themselves around all these different what's the

(02:15):
what they're looking for, the funding things and rebates. Whereas
if they just have a very simplistic investment across early
childhood for families to actu high quality early childhood would
be much more meaningful for everybody.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
Probably was a simpler way of doing it. Kathy, Thank
you very much, appreciate it. Kathy Wolf, Chief executive of
Early Childhood New Zealand. For more from the My Asking Breakfast,
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