Childcare shortage hits Sunshine Coast
Tue 11 November 2008
Samten Wangchuck, Post-Graduate Communication
Sunshine Coast parents wishing to work or study are so desperate for childcare that they are willing to pay considerable fees just to secure a place for their child.
Parents desperately scour the childcare centres spread across the Coast, only to join countless other names on the waiting list.
C&K Childcare Centre at Cotton Tree director Karen Stewart-James, who has been working in the centre for 20 out of the 33 years operation, said the issue required serious consideration from authorities.
Childcare centres grapple with balancing the ever-increasing demand from parents with the limited seats they can offer.
The centre, which looks after 68 children every day between 7am and 6pm, still has 70 applicants on its waiting list.
Ms Stewart-James said this was the average number they recorded every year.
“Unfortunately that is all we can take in,” Ms Stewart-James said.
“The Department of Community established the rule saying childcare centres should take in children according to their floor space.”
C&K owns two of about 27 childcare centres spread across the Coast.
“Our centre in Coolum probably has about 200 on their waiting list,” Ms Stewart-James said.
She said the rush was more for newborns and children below two years old.
“We receive inquiries about vacancies for two year olds every day,” Ms Stewart-James said.
“This is common among mothers who have to return to work after their maternity leave, single parents and parents from other countries who have come here to work or study.”
But securing a seat for children of that age could take anywhere between six months to one year.
“The younger the child, the harder it is to get them into a childcare centre,” Ms Stewart-James said.
This was because the centre had only eight seats for children below two years.
“They fill up just as quickly as they become free,” Ms Stewart-James said.
Ms Stewart-James added that the demand for seats peaked from June until Christmas, and eased between January and March.
Unlike many parents, 27-year-old Stacey Keady from Noosa, who has been working at the centre for seven years, was lucky to have a seat guaranteed for her now 18-month-old son.
“It is one of the perks for being an employee at the centre,” Ms Keady said.
Ms Keady works three times a week at the centre, paying $55 a day for her son’s care. During her days off she leaves her son with his grandmother, who lives nearby.
Conversely, 30-year-old Leanne West, who works in a community centre at Maroochydore, said she had to apply for a seat for her 10-month-old son the moment she knew she was pregnant.
That was one year ago.
Ms West recently found out she was going to give birth again.
She remembers having to regularly stop by the centre to follow up on her application.
“Fortunately all those hassles paid off,” Ms West said.
“I hope I get as lucky this time.”
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