More than a third of Australian families will miss out on Government’s childcare subsidies
11 October 2021– Thrive by Five welcomes the Federal Government’s decision to bring forward the start date for additional childcare subsidies from July to March 2022, but warns that more than a third of families will still miss out.
Recent modelling by the Mitchell Institute at Victoria University found the change will only impact about one in four families who use childcare, leaving about 700,000 families no better off[1].
CEO of Thrive by Five, Jay Weatherill, said “Every Australian child should have access to affordable and high-quality early learning and care, not just a few.
“While the earlier start of additional childcare subsidies is a welcome step forward, too many families and children will still miss out.
“Families recognise the importance of high-quality early learning for the development of children and supporting workplace participation of parents but rising out-of-pocket costs sting hard.
“More than half of families using early learning and childcare say it’s hardly worth working once the cost of care is factored in.
“Thrive by Five is calling for the Federal Government to improve affordability of early learning with a 95 per cent childcare subsidy for all children,” Mr Weatherill said.
[1] https://www.vu.edu.au/
