Child Care News
YWCA wants South Australian child carers to undergo training to break gender stereotypes
The Advertiser - Lauren Novak - January 21, 2014CHILDCARE workers should undergo training in how to break "gender stereotypes" to avoid pigeonholing boys and girls early in life, a leading women's lobby group says. The Young Women's Christian Association is calling for $360,000 to conduct research and operate a pilot program to...
Making nannies tax deductible isn't the answer to Australia's childcare dilemma
Women's Agenda - Georgina Dent - January 21, 2014For many men and women, trying to arrange childcare for a child is the first time they will personally encounter any structural barrier to parents working. Up until the point when a childcare position is required it is easy to assume that in 2014, in a country like Australia, we have the...
Being a working mum still the toughest of jobs
Financial Review - Jennifer Hewitt - January 21, 2014I attempt to congratulate a friend on her young family's handy proximity to a childcare centre. Her laughter has a desperate tone. Their 2½-year-old son has been on the waiting list for most of his brief life without getting the call. That's despite being willing to pay over $100 a day per child for...
Childcare rebate debate intensifies
Financial Review - Joanna Mather - January 21, 2014As the federal government hunts for budget savings, the childcare rebate is ripe for the picking. Peak business and welfare groups are unusually aligned in backing means-testing of the rebate, which is a Howard-era policy embraced and expanded by Labor under Kevin Rudd. But means...
Childcare must work for parents and kids
Financial Review - January 21, 2014As many working parents will attest, we don't have childcare sorted in this country and that is harmful for both workforce participation and children's learning and development. The Productivity Commission inquiry will look at both these areas. We spend $5 billion a year - a large chunk of...
Why childcare is about the economy, not women
Financial Review - Louiise McBride - January 21, 2014The availability of flexible, affordable childcare affects the entire population. In 2012 women made up 58 per cent of Australia's tertiary education enrolment. However, participation of women aged 34 to 44 has barley changed since the 1980s. The reasons most often given by women when they...
Focus on childcare, not paid parental leave, government told
BRW - Joanna Mather - January 21, 2014Professional women want the childcare rebate extended to nannies, but welfare groups say it should be restricted to lower-income families. The opposing arguments are made in submissions to the Productivity Commission inquiry into childcare, which will report in July. Consult Australia...
Cost of schooling children same as a one bedroom apartment
Brisbane Times - Marissa Calligeros - January 21, 2014Brisbane parents who have a child this year can expect to part with at least $360,000 if they choose to send their son or daughter to a private school from Preschool to Year 12. The projected cost is roughly equivalent to the median price of a one-bedroom Brisbane apartment. Meanwhile sending...
Bless me, school for Catholics will cost more in South Australia
NEWS.com.au - January 21, 2014SOUTH Australian parents of children born this year will spend less on private and public education from kindergarten to Year 12 than those in neighbouring states - but could pay more if their child is enrolled in a Catholic school, analysis shows. A four-year-old starting kindergarten in a regional...
Childcare and a commercial model: not the right fit?
Women's Agenda - Eva Cox - January 20, 2014Can the Productivity Commission review commissioned by the Abbott government recognise the possible failure of the market-model funding of many early childhood services? This rather broad term now covers services that offer mixes of education and non-family care for children below...
Advocates split over childcare rebate
Financial Review - Joanna Mather - January 20, 2014Professional women want the childcare rebate extended to nannies, but welfare groups say it should be restricted to lower-income families. The opposing arguments are made in submissions to the Productivity Commission inquiry into childcare, which will report in July. Consult Australia...
Increasing out-of-pocket costs for childcare putting pressure on parents
Courier Mail - Laura Chalmers - January 20, 2014CHILDCARE subsidies are failing to keep up with the rising cost of childcare fees, leaving Australian parents up to $10,000 a year out-of-pocket. New analysis of childcare subsidies by Early Childhood Australia shows families in all income ranges are feeling the pinch, with a lower percentage of...
Family day care increasingly stretches into night
The Age - Daniella Miletic - January 19, 2014New government figures show the number of children using family daycare jumped 15 per cent in the year to March 2013, compared to an increase of 3.8 per cent in the number attending long-daycare centres in the same period. More than 135,770 Australian children were being cared for...
Child protection checks deadline pushed back by government
Sydney Morning Herald - Kirsty Needham - January 19, 2014New child protection checks should have been applied to the husband of a day care operator arrested in the inner west last month for child sexual assault, but the NSW government had quietly pushed back the deadline. Failure to undergo a new working-with-children check is a criminal...
Mother of all choices hits home as more mums opt to return to the workforce
NEWS.com.au - January 17, 2014THE stay-at-home mum is becoming a thing of the past, with financial pressures and family-friendly policies luring women back to the workforce. One in five Australian mothers (19.9 per cent) chose to stay at home with their children or to knock back additional hours at work in 2012-13 - a drop...
