Child Care News
Social revolution at work: mums go back to their jobs as reality hits home
The Australian - George Megalogenis and Sophie Gosper - October 31, 2012ALMOST half of all mothers in two-parent families are back at work before their youngest child turns one, completing a social revolution than has seen the dividing line between home and career disappear in less than a generation. The proportion of stay-at-home mothers with a child aged...
New mothers need support to return to work earlier
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - October 31, 2012THE days of waiting until your baby celebrates its first birthday before entertaining a partial return to paid work are about to be over. Forever. A quiet revolution has transformed Australian homes and workplaces. And the creeping demographic shift - pressuring women to go back...
Women gain ground in workplace – slowly
Financial Review - Geoff Winestock and Edmund Tadros - October 31, 2012According to the ABS census, female managers are still concentrated in a few traditional lower-paid areas. Women account for 92 per cent of childcare managers and 73 per cent of health and welfare services managers. The other sectors where women dominate are human resources and...
Are your children really safe with the nanny?
NEWS.com.au - Wendy Tuohy - October 29, 2012THE alleged fatal stabbing of two young siblings by their beloved nanny in New York should have Aussie parents worried. Very likely, even if they are alone for long periods with a trusted woman, as the children of distraught New Yorkers Marina and Kevin Krim were, your little children are...
Childcare: how the cost of bringing up baby is bankrupting middle Britain
The Observer (UK) - Yvonne Roberts - October 27, 2012Paid work has become an activity that many parents can no longer afford, according to an explosive Resolution Foundation report due out this week: childcare costs are prohibitive, there are too few childminders and nurseries are going to the wall. So what is to be done?
Childcare fees rising seven times faster than inflation
The Australian - Natasha Bita - October 27, 2012The nation's biggest childcare provider, Goodstart Early Learning, is warning new government rules that require centres to hire more and better qualified staff will add $150 million a year to the costs of operating its 655 centres - equivalent to a 20 per cent fee hike for parents. Goodstart's daily...
Childcare costs in Brisbane rise five times faster than inflation
The Courier-Mail - Natasha Bita - October 27, 2012CHILDCARE costs in Brisbane are soaring five times faster than inflation - and taxpayers are picking up much of the tab. Brisbane families are now paying 16.1 per cent more in out-of-pocket costs for child care than they did a year ago, the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows...
SMEs need to focus on cash flow, tax issues
Financial Review - Jessica Gardner - October 27, 2012For example, a childcare centre that offers places to teachers' children at a discount when paid by salary sacrifice will now attract fringe benefits tax at the top marginal tax rate. Businesses will need to weigh up if the cost of a scheme is worth it, Cunningham says. The government also...
Baby bonus cut a slap at stay-at-home mums
The Australian - Angela Shanahan - October 27, 2012The point about the baby bonus is that its beneficiaries are mostly stay-at-home mothers. There is a choice to take the government's paid parental leave or the baby bonus ; as most families with three children do not have a mother in full-time work, they opt for the baby bonus. However...
OOSH changes questioned
ABC News - October 25, 2012The Federal Opposition's childcare spokeswoman has promised to take concerns from Riverina Out of School Hours (OOSH) co-ordinators about increasing workloads to the State. Sussan Ley met with before and after school carers in Wagga Wagga yesterday about recent industry changes...
Childcare worker pleads not guilty to torture
ABC News - October 25, 2012A central Queensland childcare worker has pleaded not guilty to charges including child torture. The 21-year-old woman was not in the Moranbah Magistrates Court when the matter was first mentioned on Thursday. Her lawyer asked that her client be excused from appearing due to work...
Cleaners paid more than childcare workers
The Daily Telegraph - October 25, 2012QUALIFIED childcare workers are pushing for pay parity with primary school teachers after it was revealed they earn $18.58 an hour - almost $3 less than the centre cleaners. Cleaners earn an average $21.05 an hour, leading childcare bodies to call on the government yesterday for...
ABC liquidators launch claim on banks
Financial Review - Alex Boxsell - October 25, 2012The liquidators of ABC Learning have launched a $250 million-plus claim against a group of banks to recover money they secured from the childcare giant via a charge shortly before it went into receivership. Ferrier Hodgson has argued the charge obtained by Commonwealth Bank of...
Childcare union hopes united front will pin PM on wages
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - October 23, 2012THE union pushing the government to fund big increases to childcare wages will today hold a summit with private and community childcare providers to try to establish a "consensus" on problems facing the sector and turn up the pressure on Julia Gillard. The Gillard government...
Parents face higher charges under daycare cuts
ABC News - October 23, 2012Childcare centres in the New South Wales south east say forced changes to the industry are bad news for parents. Under new legislation due to come into force next year, family day-care facilities will only be able to accommodate four children for each staff member instead of five...
