Thrive by Five welcomes Labor commitment to childcare cost relief
11 April 2022 – Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has promised cheaper childcare in his first pitch of the Federal Election campaign, confirming early childhood education will be one of the defining issues of the 2022 poll.
News Corp reports the Opposition has made a commitment to:
- lift the maximum childcare subsidy for one child;
- match the Coalition’s higher subsidies for second or subsequent children to 95 per cent; and
- increase childcare subsidy rates for every family with one child earning less than $530,000.
The announcement comes as new research from The Australia Institute finds universal childcare for one to four-year-olds would free up the equivalent of 850,000 new Australian workers, many of them women. The analysis suggests the economic boost could be up to $132 billion a year.
The Thrive by Five campaign has welcomed the Labor Opposition’s commitment to reduce the cost of childcare and urges bipartisan commitment to a universally accessible, high-quality and affordable early learning system.
Thrive by Five Director Jay Weatherill said the cost of childcare in Australia was among the highest in the OECD and keeps rising.
“In the past year alone, out of pocket early learning and care costs have risen an average of 6.5 per cent and grown more in cities, including Perth (8.6 per cent increase) and Sydney (8 per cent),” Mr Weatherill said.
“Childcare prices will only keep rising over the coming year, outpacing wage growth and
eating away at take-home pay and the real spending power of households.
“Reform of the early learning and childcare system is a good investment that will drive workforce participation, particularly for women, boost productivity and GDP, improve our nation’s education performance, and give children the best possible start in life.
“Australia’s early learning and childcare system has become outdated and expensive. We know what’s needed to fix it. Now we need all political parties to commit to a universally accessible, high-quality and affordable early learning and care system for all Australians.
