The big increase in childcare relates to the increase in births over the last few years, percentage wise the number of children in childcare is the same. You would think that the Porse managing director would know that there would be a relation between the number of births and the number of kids in childcare.

What a great article. well done to it's author.

I have my child in PORSE care and know many PORSE carers and don’t have any problems with recommending them to my friends with children of their own.

To all of those knockers - know me before you judge me. Just like I do to you. I hope you teach your children to be slightly less judgmental than you display.

How many of these comments are from the same person? The article didn't JUST quote Porse.

There is 0 evidence that staying at home to raise your kid leads to a better adjusted kid in the future, its up to the parents what their preference is and what they think is better for their kid.

As it turns out, the friends of a kid have far more effect on a childs development than their parents.

My wife cares for my son during the day most of the time. When she can't, I do. Our decision was that our child should be raised by us. Not by a babysitter while we ignore him and then wonder why he ignores us later in his life. If we couldn't afford to survive on one income, we wouldn't have had children. It's easy to back yourself into a corner and then make excuses for the conditions in that corner.

I was really disappointed to see this incredibly biased article. It read as a private ad for PORSE. I have nothing against home based care, parents need choice, they need accurate information and access to quality care. There are many good centres in the Nelson region, Parents should look for small group size, qualified teachers, a stable teaching team and a interesting challenging environment. There has been an increased focus in the specialised care that Infants and Toddlers require, this has lead to many beneficial changes to the quality of practice and environments. I hope in future the Nelson Mail will give a more balanced view and more appropriate headlines that are not scaremongering.

Judging by the comments on here, there are a lot of parents feeling a bit guilty for neglecting their kids and leaving their upbringing to daycare centres and taking it out on the Nelson Mail for basically telling them what they don't want to hear.

There's nothing wrong with having children AND a career but its about balance. Kids need parents, not teachers and nannys in these early years. When they hit their teenage years and start acting up because they didnt form parental bonds in those crucial first years - good luck!

Is this article a paid advert or just biased reporting?

Completely agree with James #7. Really Nelson Mail, how do you expect any future income in advertising from early education providers after this type of slander article on the front page of your newspaper? I also agree with teacher #6, The Education Review Office gives an accurate description of a centre's performance, not brash comments from a competitor promoting her own service. If you want opinion, Porse offers very little early childhood education. It is a government funded babysitting service in residential houses by unqualified and mostly unsupervised caregivers. Compare that to trained and qualified teachers providing a caring, nurturing environment for children in early childhood centres licensed by the Ministry of Education. The Editor of the Nelson Mail needs to seriously consider the motivation behind writing such a slanderous article attacking families, teachers and early education providers, it’s a real slap in the face.

I agree, Jenny Yule knows nothing about quality childcare and the government funding for under twos. My son is fulltime in a childcare centre and with their philosophies and primary caregiving, they more than meet the physicl and pyschological needs for him. This article is just a dig at childcare to boost her own business, which is very disappointing. People should get their facts straight first!