Child Care News
How 3 female CEOs say we can lift women's workforce participation
Women's Agenda - Georgina Dent - November 17, 2014In Australia, for women of child-bearing age, the cry is for a universal system of accessible, affordable, quality early childhood learning and development infrastructure. We can learn much from the experiences of countries which have already gone down this path and in this regard the...
Growing children's nurseries market now worth £4.9bn
NurseryWorld (UK) - Catherine Guant - November 17, 2014There was significant growth in the children's nurseries market last year, according to the 2014 report from market analysts LaingBuisson. The annual survey of the childcare market puts the value of day nurseries in the UK at £4.9bn, a rise of 4 per cent in real terms. The report analyses...
Online cheats a target in new rules for training colleges
The Australian - Natasha Bita - November 17, 2014TRAINING colleges have been ordered to check the identity of online students and stop printing certificates on plain paper due to concerns over cheating. "Verify that the person you are enrolling, training and assessing is the same person that will be issued with a qualification or statement...
Childcare benefits red tape putting off low-income parents
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - November 17, 2014LOW-INCOME and disadvantaged families use fewer childcare and preschool services because they find applying for benefits "confusing and frustrating". And some avoided services because they found providers ignored their needs, a national study has shown. These parents wanted providers...
Folkestone wins supports for merger
Financial Review - Larry Schlesinger - November 17, 2014Listed fund manager Folkestone has won support from investors and analysts for a plan to merge two childcare property-based funds it controls, creating a vehicle with a $545 million portfolio. The plan may have been mulled over for some time, but it comes hard on the heels of a blunt...
Free laptops for training college dropouts thanks to taxpayers
The Australian - Natasha Bita - November 15, 2014Training colleges and recruiters known as "brokers" have been bombarding daycare centres with offers to train workers, as they compete for a slice of the federal government's $200 million training fund for the childcare industry. The former Labor government set up the fund to give pay...
Fears over rise in no-jab kids
The West Australian - Cathy O'Leary - November 15, 2014Almost one in 50 WA children aged under seven is not immunised, as more parents become vaccine-refusers. A record 351 new children were registered with Medicare in the June quarter by WA parents with a conscientious objection to vaccination. Frustrated doctors say they cannot...
The 'match making' service for babysitting and lift sharing
Daily Telegraph - Jenny Pogson - November 15, 2014TWO women have created an online 'matchmaking' service for families looking to share school pick-ups and childminding responsibilities. Faced with rising childcare costs and low vacancy rates at centres across Sydney, Katrina Clark and Lisa Robertson have launched a website that helps...
Childcare centres shun 'substandard' graduates
The Australian - Natasha Bita - November 14, 2014CHILDCARE centres are boycotting graduates of "black-listed" training colleges, citing concerns over substandard courses. The Australian Childcare Alliance, representing centre owners, said some daycare centres were refusing to hire staff who had studied with particular colleges, despite…
Folkestone plans $545m merger
The Australian - Sarah Duckert - November 14, 2014GREG Paramor's property funds management house, Folkestone, is planning to merge two listed funds it manages to create a $545 million vehicle. Childcare property focused Folkestone Education Trust has proposed a merger with sister trust Folkestone Social Infrastructure Fund, which owns 47 childcare…
Folkestone to merge childcare trusts, bulk up for fight
Financial Review - Larry Schlesinger - November 14, 2014Fund manager and developer Folkestone has proposed merging its two listed childcare trusts to create a single trust with more than 400 childcare centres and with a market cap close to $500 million as it battles with rival Arena REIT to take control the lucrative early learning property…
Books closed on New Zealand's Evolve Education IPO
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Jake Mitchell - November 14, 2014Kiwi IPO aspirant Evolve Education has sealed off its institutional book-build early due to strong investor demand with the offer closing on Thursday afternoon. Evolve, which has brokers Forsyth Barr and Goldman Sachs overseeing the roll-up of 90 New Zealand childcare centres, offered…
5 Policies That Help Children By Helping Their Parents
The Brookings Institute - Joanna Venator and Isabel V. Sawhill - November 14, 2014It should be common sense to say that programs which improve well-being and increase stability for parents will also help their children. Two-generation approaches to child welfare, a topic we highlighted in last spring's issue of Future of Children, are the focus of a new report from the…
A Nordic mystery
The Economist - November 14, 2014In the world's most female-friendly workplaces, executive suites are still male-dominated. THE Nordic countries have done more than anywhere else to provide women with equal opportunities. Maternity leave is generous. State provision of child care is first-rate. Female university graduates…
G-20 and the early years opportunity
Online Opinion - November 13, 2014Australia's proposal to place gender equality at the centre of the agenda for economic growth at the G20 meeting in Brisbane next week is internationally significant and long overdue. But if Australia wants to lead a discussion regarding the importance of increasing the participation of women...
