Push for cheaper childcare to help get women into jobs
The sting of childcare costs has been blamed for keeping women out of paid work. Now experts say taxpayers should help fund the costs.
Taxpayers should fund 95 per cent of the cost of childcare for low-income parents to boost the number of women in the workforce, early childhood groups say.
The Minderoo Foundation, established by mining magnate Andrew Forrest and his wife Nicola, is calling for more help for parents to meet childcare costs. Experts say the high cost of childcare — which reaches $120 a day in many Victorian centres before rebates — is the biggest issue stopping women doing more paid work.
Minderoo is one of many groups lobbying the federal government ahead of the May budget to push for cheaper childcare for families.
The foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign, led by former SA premier Jay Weatherill, wants the current 85 per cent subsidy for struggling families to be 95 per cent, the annual cap on hours removed and a simpler tapering of payments.
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