Melbourne single dad launches KidNest childminding platform

When Tim’s wife was going to be working 50 hours a week but paid just $10 an hour after childcare fees, he decided change was needed.

Tim Wise was shocked when he found out how much it would cost to put his son Zac in childcare.

At the time he was living in Sydney with his then wife and – aside from the long search to find a childcare centre with availability – once they stumbled on one, the numbers didn’t stack up.

“We found one that would take him and the cost of it was actually better for my wife to stay at home as she would have been working 50 hours for $10 an hour after paying out childcare,” he said. “Lucky we were in a financial position for her not to work.”

It’s a problem he has heard from many mums and dads – the cost of childcare makes it impossible for them to return to work, with parents forking out on average anywhere between $65 and $175 a day for childcare in Australia.

While Mr Wise’s family faced the dilemma a decade ago, he said the problem is still rampant and he wanted to make a change.

He’s launched a childminding platform called KidNest, which is being described as the digital car pooling app for childcare, and costs a monthly $100 subscription fee.

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Tim Wise, founder of Kidnest, said parents are forking out thousands a year on childcare. Picture: Supplied

It allows parents living in the same neighbourhood to connect and set up a nest, where they draw up a roster agreeing to look after each other’s kids on certain days. Parents inspect each other’s houses before making the arrangement and must have a valid working with child check before being allowed to enter a nest.

“I want make the market a lot more accessible for people who can’t afford childcare – the bigger picture is I was thinking about how can we get young mums and dads back into the workforce to further their careers, to pay off mortgages, and to put money in their children’s bank account so they can buy a house when they are older,” he said.

“One young mum I met was spending $28,000 on childcare and that was taking into account subsidies from government and that was with three kids. That’s a huge amount of money that can go elsewhere.”

For three days a week, one family would save between $10,000 and $28,000 every year if using Kidnest, Mr Wise claims.

Childcare costs in Australia are among the highest in the OECD, according to research, eating up around 27 per cent of families’ incomes. The need for childcare is expected to grow at 1.8 per cent every year too.

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Demand for childcare is expected to grow by 1.8 per cent each year in Australia. Picture: Supplied

It’s a hot topic right now as the federal Budget looms, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announcing changes to cover up to 95 per cent of childcare fees for second and subsequent children aged five and under – although it won’t come into effect until July 2022.

Working parents could secure childcare for as little as $6 a day for a second child under a major Budget overhaul designed to encourage mothers to re-enter the workforce.

While Mr Wise’s son is now 12 and in school, he said Australian parents spent around $14.5 billion on childcare in 2019, with industry profits totalling $1.5 billion.

“With around a third of Australian single parent households living below the poverty line, finding affordable child care is a key reason preventing many single parents from earning a decent living,” he added.

Chris Hewson and his wife Jenny Chen-Hewson use KidNest for their four-year-old daughter Dali.

“My wife and I both work and it’s hard for us to find care for our daughter that suits the hours we need. On top of this, we just don’t have the time or means to meet other families locally that are similar to ours,” he said.

“The idea of developing a new network, and sharing in the care of our kids – it’s just something we as families need desperately. Both from a social and a financial perspective.”

Mr Wise said smaller childminding groups also has added benefits for kids and the community. Picture: iStock

Now Melbourne-based, Mr Wise has invested $90,000 of his own money into Kidnest as well as attracting crowd-funding worth $264,000 at the end of 2019.

He would love to see hundreds of nests popping up around communities.

“It takes a village to raise a child and I would love to see kids when they are first dropped off at primary school that they know kids in their nest and they are not so nervous when first starting school,” he said. “Research has also shown that kids in small groups get along better and their brains develop better.”

Across the country, there are 1.85 million children under the age of five and Mr Wise can see KidNest growing.

“That’s our market, so it’s a huge market and it’s an ongoing market, and our key demographic is zero to 11 years of age, as KidNest gives the flexibility for people who can’t access childcare and can’t find employment,” he said.