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| Government figures show sustained growth
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The number of families using child care has grown to 742 690, an increase of 6 percent since June 2012, according to figures in the June Quarter 2013 Child Care and Early Learning in Summary Document.
The Government's quarterly update found that hourly fees for long day care (LDC) are increasing at a rate of about 7 per cent per year but also shows that the average number of hours parents used LDC services did not increase at all during the period.
Assistant Minister for Education Sussan Ley said LDC and Outside Hours School Care (OHSC) remained the most popular types of child care, covering about 95 per cent of the sector, but she noted there has been significant growth in Family Day Care (FDC) and Occasional Care (OC).
The number of new services in FDC and OC grew 29.3 per cent and 48.8 per cent respectively for the year to June 2013 and the increase in the number of children attending FDC between June 2012 and 2013 outstripped LDC by over 4000 enrolments.
The average amount of time children spent in FDC also increased 14 per cent during the same period to 27 hours per week, while LDC did not record an increase at all, flat lining at 27.2 hours per week.
"This is a sign that parents are searching for more flexible alternatives to the traditional 9-to-5 child care model of last century," Ms Ley said.
Facts and Figures
- 1,057,900 children attended approved child care services in the 2013 June quarter—an increase of 7 per cent since June 2012 and the fourth consecutive quarter where the number has been over one million
- 15,717 approved child care services operated in Australia - a 4.6 per cent increase since June 2012
- 8,718 outside school hours care services accounted for 55.5 per cent of all services
- 6,310 long day care services accounted for 40 per cent of all services.
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