Actually just checked out the wiki page for tertiary education fees in Aus and things seem to have changed a little since I completed my degree. Certainly with the increases in wages and cost of living you now have to earn over $44k per year before you have to start paying extra tax to pay back the tuition fees. The average full time wage in Ausrtalia now is something like $65k!

That's so true. And in order for people to pay back the loan, there needs to be a stable society.

It'd be really easy to get a loan and just disappear here in the sates and it happens a lot. I don't do it because (my conscience aside) I have a stable job and chances to have even better ones. But unfortunately, it's harder to secure this kind of place for everybody when the country is big, methinks.

I agree though. Japanese universities are really cheap. So do the British ones. But kindergartens in Japan are outrageous aren't they? I don't know how you guys are putting up with that. Oh, wait, I know your baby is so cute and makes you a better person and all that. Yeah, actually, they are cute :)

The monthly cost is a value when you consider that it helps to have the child a) gone somewhere safe for half the day, b) fed a nutritious lunch so I don`t need to make one, and c) learn something (both academic and social) that will hopefully be useful later (we`ve got most things stacked against us in this area).

Having a child didn`t make me a better person, nor does having one make anyone else a better person (in my opinion)... But it doesn`t make me a worse person - something I feel can happen and does happen too often with other people. (Living a horrible life is one thing when it`s just you, but to drag a child into one makes you a terrible person... All just my opinion of course.)

Anyone who doesn`t want to deal with the costs of kindergarten doesn`t have to enroll their child. It`s not compulsory.

Those kindergarten fees don't seem too bad at all. We have our 17 month old daughter in private day care 5 days a week and she's there from around 08:15 to 17:45 each day. It costs us Y58,000 per month. There's only about 10 kids and they get to do plenty of great activities and get fed probably better than I do. When you work out the hourly rate being charged it's very cheap. At least half the cost of what it would be in Australia.
We could have put her in the town day care facility for almost half the cost but we think she gets much better care where she is.

I attend an American university in Tokyo. The cost of the school itself is comparable to the average American school in the states (~8,000 USD a semester), but the Office of Immigration needed what is called "Proof of Financial Viability" before they'd issue me a visa, which is basically proof that I could support all of my costs of living in Japan for one year. To satisfy this requirement, I had to prove that I had access to at least 3 million yen, which at the time was equal to a little over 30,000 USD.

really? i did some research when i was planning to go to the uk, Birmingham University. it was ~3215 pounds a year. however, you only have to start to pay back after you are earning 15 000 a year. from whatever you earn over those 15 000 you only pay 9% of that money for your loan. lets say you earn 16 000 so you only pay them ~95 pounds a year. also i heard that if you are unable to pay back your loan, after some years, the the government clears it because it counts as if university has failed you.
in latvia its ~ 1500 lats (3 000) dollars for each year and there aren't any sweet deals like that.

Sorry what I meant is international students who study at UK universities have to pay more. Although those in the EU are considered UK students I think...And yes the payment 'plan' you've described there pretty much applies to all UK unis for UK and EU students.

BBC News - University course fee increases 'could deter students'


items about changes in University costs etc in UK.

Wow I guessed £12000 in my previous post, looks like I was right on the mark. I subconciously pay more attention to the news than I thought! :p

Daycare for the younger set (under 3) is quite high if you can`t get into hoikuen or if your household income is above a certain amount. We looked into hoikuen (public daycare/preschool) and gawked at the price - our income knocked us up into the 80,000 bracket a month (I think 78,000?). If our income was lower, I understand it would have been quite a bit cheaper than kindergarten. And this was at 3, so I don`t even want to think about how much it would have been when younger. Kindergarten around here tends to run at around 25000~30000/month plus uniform and supplies. The one my son goes to is a bit above the average (34000/month + about 150,000 in uniform, supplies, and such for the whole 3 years)

It`s great that you found a good private daycare. I`ve found that (in using them for short term things) there is a real variety in their quality. There are different regulations for their teachers - they don`t require the levels of education that the hoikuen do - so if you`re unlucky the teachers can be really clueless. Hoikuen tend to be pretty standard. Not exceptional, but never bad.