Posted by
A Mum
20 yrs ago
Before I had my first child I was also hesitant to leave my child at home
with a complete stranger. Afterwards you get used to the idea and you
actually prefer to have a helper than daycare. First, you don't need to rush
to daycare in the morning and rush to pick up in the afternoon - for parents
that work. Two, the helper does all the coking, laundry and cleaning
around the house. If you don't want to do this yourself and want to send
your kids to daycare, you end up with a helper anyway, unless you have
parttime help which you need to pay on top of daycare.
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A Mum
20 yrs ago
By the way, I forgot to mention a *major* paranoia amongst parents in HK
- transmittable diseases! Most popular source of infections being from
daycare, schools, playgroups etc.. I am sorry if I sound like a complete wet
blanket, but I am sure if in Australia you could get a helper from Africa or
Asia for HK$3600 a month net, there would not be any daycare centres
left and lots of mums would return to work.
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A Mum
20 yrs ago
I think the reason creches and daycare are so popular in Australia,
Europe etc.. is that they don't have cheap and affordable domestic
helpers like in Hong Kong.
Daycare costs about HK$300 per day ($7500 a month) in Sydney and a
nanny costs at least $12k a month plus pension etc.. Compared with
Hong Kong it is so different - we can have a domestic helper for $3600 a
month.
I think it is not a bad idea but it really depends on how much it will cost for
one child per day.
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I am interested as well and I am prepared to pay more than local helpers. People just cannot compare what a baby can get from a day creche and taking by a helper. I am not pregnant yet but I am preparing to have one. Can I know where it is? Thanks.
(I am based in Hong Kong)
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Agree with Cara. I think I would much rather pay for a helper to look after my babies than a day creche. A daycrehe would have a ratio of one adult per xxxx kids. A helper is one on one, or two to one (for the majority of Hongkongers). Why would I pay the same price or extra to a daycare centre who will probably not dedicate the same amount of time to my kids as a domestic helper? In addition, A Mum is right, even if a daycreche charges the same as a helper or even slightly less, it's still less desirable because you'll have to pick up the kids and then do all the housework, cleaning yourself. If you paid others to do it, then it'll cost more than a domestic helper. At the end of the day, even domestic helpers are able to teach the little ones simple, education stuff.
So in this sense, you may find that a daycare centre may not work as well here in HK.
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