The rules of rugby are confusing. The laws of conveyancing are confounding. But for sheer mind-bending inscrutability, the topic of child care trumps them all.

At what age should kids go into care? What are the benefits of the various types of child care? How do you find an available space close to home? The subject is like a Russian doll: as soon as you resolve one issue, another appears.

Perhaps the most perplexing issue of all is cost. Many families need a second income to afford mortgage repayments, groceries and fuel but it's a conundrum because the second income can be swallowed up by child-care fees. The Raising Children Network reports that one in four employees leaves work to care for their child because they can't afford child-care costs.

This financial year, the Rudd Government introduced changes to ease the burden of child-care fees and to try to simplify the labyrinth of government assistance (see box). Unfortunately, parents and experts remain confused.

"I'm a PhD in economics and when the first child-care rebate came out a few years ago, I couldn't make heads or tails of it," says Joshua Gans, a professor of management at the University of Melbourne Business School and author of Parentonomics. "Now that money will be paid directly to the child-care provider [and the] bad side to this is that the provider realises this and charges higher fees."

Indeed, on July 1 several centres prompted outcry by raising their fees by more than 10 per cent. This comes on top of hefty previous rises. The National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling has calculated that, in the 12 months to September 2004, the cost of child care for Australian families increased by 10.3 per cent - the second-highest price increase for all goods and services over this period. (The highest was for fuel.)

"I wouldn't say the system is less complicated with these changes - it's about the same," says George Avramides, a technical services manager at ING. "Overall, people can expect to receive a little more money but this is still a complex area and parents need to get advice on it. Whether that means through the child-care people at Centrelink or through a professional adviser, it's certainly well worth it."

Profit-making centres

Child care can be divided into two main categories: for-profit and not-for-profit or community-based. About 60 per cent of Australian long-day-care centres are profit-making, with about a quarter of these run by ABC Learning.

"There's a lot of debate within the child-care industry about the pros and cons of for-profit and not-for-profit," says Roxanne Elliott of CareforKids.com.au, a free service that matches parents and child care. "Personally, I think factors such as the values a centre instills and the education program are far more important than whether a centre is for-profit or not-for-profit."

Costs between centres can vary dramatically, depending on location, operating hours and the age of your child. Expect to pay between $55 and $110 a day but that price usually drops if additional days are required. According to the Raising Children Network, in 2006 the median weekly fee for 50 hours of private long day care was $208. This figure could be an underestimation. The network says: "Some surveys show prices are much higher than reported, with a median weekly cost in Victoria of $313 and $348 in NSW."

Non-profit centres

"Community-based organisations have a different way of engaging with families," says Prue Warrilow, national convener of the National Association of Community Based Children's Services.

"In for-profit centres, you can't have parents having a day-to-day say ... In a for-profit business, your key customer is your shareholder. In a not-for-profit centre, the board is all volunteers and it's all about the children. [But] I'm not saying that all for-profit centres are bad and all community-based centres good."

In more affluent areas, not-for-profit centres are hard to find. For-profit-making centres usually cost the same as non-profit centres; sometimes a few dollars more."Non-profit centres still make a profit," Warrilow says, "but this profit goes back into the centre."

Workplace-attached centres

These can be non-profit-making. However, most are for-profit, with many run by ABC Learning. A big advantage with some workplace centres is they allow parents to pay fees via salary sacrifice. In this case, parents are not entitled to claim the child-care benefit or rebate. Even so, salary sacrificing can result in significant savings.

Another advantage of a workplace centres is convenience. Drop-off and pick-up is a cinch. Daily fees in NSW range from $80 to $110. "The fees vary from state to state as each state has different regulations," says Warrilow, who is also the chiefe executive of Families At Work, a work-life consultancy.

Family day care

Family day care, where carers look after children in their own homes, is increasingly popular. It is usually informal and flexible.

"Family day care has been perfect for us," says Sally Steele, who runs a marketing and publicity consultancy in Sydney's inner west. "Without grandparents or cousins in Sydney, it's the next best thing to having extended family nearby."

Steele's 14-month-old daughter, Indigo, has been attending a local family day-care centre two days a week for two months.

"As soon as I met our carer and saw her interacting with Indigo, I felt comfortable," she says. "There are three other lovely children ... between one and three, and our carer also has an eight-year-old daughter. Indigo's development has skyrocketed."

Family day care is also cheaper. In Steele's area, family day care costs from $50 to $60 for a 10-hour day.

"It's very cost effective," says CareforKids.com.au's Elliott. "It ranges from $4.50 to $7.50 an hour. One of the great benefits is if, for example, you're a shift worker, they can provide care outside normal business hours and on weekends."

The Raising Children Network says the median weekly fee for 50 hours of family day care in 2006 was $185.

Pre-school, prep or kindergarten

These provide an educational program for children aged from three to five to prepare them for school. The venue can vary: it can be attached to a school, at a long-day-care centre or in a purpose-built structure.

Hours usually coincide with school hours, from 9am to 3pm and a day costs from $32 to $40.

Au pair, nanny or babysitter

Au pairs are popular overseas but not in Australia. The term applies to young people who come and live with a family, often to learn a new language. In exchange for board and an allowance of $80 to $120 a week, they can help with child care and housework.

In Australia, au pairs receive a 12-month visa and usually fill placements lasting six to 10 months. They're usually untrained but can look after babies older than 12 months for a few hours. In households with schoolchildren, they are often used for before- and after-school care.

Nannies are another option: they cost $10-$25 an hour live-in or $14-$35 an hour live-out. An eight-hour day with a nanny costs about $200.

"For one child it's expensive but with two or more children a nanny is an alternative option," Elliott says.

Meanwhile, a babysitter costs about $10-$25 an hour, not including agency fees.

Parents who hired nannies, babysitters and au pairs used to be ineligible for government assistance. That changed to some extent last month, with limited Child Care Benefits now payable for care given by nannies and other carers registered with the Family Assistance Office (see box at right).

Informal sector

The Australian Bureau of Statistics found that in 2005, 38 per cent of children aged up to four had informal child care from grandparents, siblings and other relatives.This has one enormous advantage: it's usually free.