Return to Work Worth It Calculator

This calculator helps a New Zealand parent work out whether going back to a job actually pays once the real costs of working are taken into account. A salary offer looks straightforward on its own, but once tax, childcare, commuting and the small extra costs of being out each day are subtracted, the genuine gain can be far smaller than expected, and sometimes barely worth the disruption to family life. You enter your annual salary, your weekly childcare cost, your weekly commuting cost, and any other weekly work costs such as clothes, lunches or extra takeaways. The calculator converts your salary to net pay using current tax brackets and the ACC levy, turns that into a weekly figure, then subtracts your weekly costs to show what is genuinely left over per week. It also shows your net pay per week, your total work costs per week, and an effective hourly rate over a standard 38 hour week, often the most revealing number of all. Use it to compare job offers, test how a pay rise or a change in childcare fees changes the picture, or simply to have an honest number to weigh against the non-financial reasons for returning to work. Working for Families and childcare subsidies are not included, so check your entitlements, as they can meaningfully improve the result. This is an indicative estimate only, not financial advice.

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Net pay uses the 2026/27 tax brackets and the ACC levy. This is a simple comparison; Working for Families and the childcare subsidy can improve the picture, so check your entitlements. Estimate only, not financial advice.