Child Care News

Childcare cash to be paid weekly
The Advertiser - Mark Kenny - June 28, 2011

FAMILIES will have access to more flexible government assistance when childcare rebates are made available weekly instead of quarterly. Announced in the May Budget, the change means the subsidy of 50 per cent of out-of-pocket childcare costs can be...

Any which way to meet care costs
Sydney Morning Herald - Rachel Browne - June 26, 2011

WORKING mothers are increasingly using a combination of care, including nannies, to keep on top of spiralling childcare costs with many losing money to stay in employment. Long day care centres charge as much as $130 a day and fees are predicted to rise...

Numbers add up as mothers return to work sooner
The Age - Michelle Griffin - June 24, 2011

In the June quarter last year, 869,770 children were enrolled in formal childcare, up 8.7 per cent from June 2009. The numbers are tipped to rise again next financial year, as families can get the rebate deducted directly from their fortnightly bills from July 1...

A passionate educator, but the pay is too low
Sydney Morning Herald - Jim O'Rourke - June 26, 2011

"They should be in the same bracket as teachers and nurses. At the moment, childcare workers simply cannot aspire to the same standard of living as the parents whose children they educate". The union has organised a childcare crisis summit to be held on...

Family claims are Labor nonsense: Margie Abbott
Sunday Herald Sun - Samantha Maiden - June 26, 2011

As the Liberal leader's wife prepares to join Mr Abbott and youngest daughter Bridget on a trip to Hopevale in far north Queensland to volunteer in an Aboriginal community, Mrs Abbott has also declared she's not her husband's "shadow" and that childcare workers are undervalued...

Skyrocketing Costs Of Child Care: 1960 to Today
24/7 Wall St (USA) - Michael A. Sauter - June 24, 2011

It cost $25,299 to raise a child from birth to age 18 in 1960. The amount rose to $226,920 last year. This may be one of the reasons many reasons Americans are having fewer children these days. Adjusted for inflation, the 1960 sum equals about $192,497 compared to $235,996 in 2010...

Put chubby toddlers on a diet: report
Sydney Morning Herald - June 24, 2011

And making sure preschoolers get at least 15 minutes of physical activity for every hour they spend in child care. Thursday's recommendations, from the US Institute of Medicine, aren't about putting the very young on diets. But those early pounds can...

Childcare rebate put paid to staying home longer
Sydney Morning Herald - Michelle Griffin - June 24, 2011

FOR most mothers, the days of staying at home until the youngest child starts school are over. And for this we can thank the Howard government's childcare rebate, introduced in 2006. By 2008, more than half of mothers with partners - 52 per cent - were returning...

Life lessons for our modern families
Herald Sun - Elissa Doherty - June 24, 2011

THE longer children spend in childcare, the less satisfied parents are with work and life, Australia's biggest study of families has found. And mums and dads are most content when their youngest child is aged under 2, the research reveals. As families struggle...

Parents deserve to know the facts on child care
DEEWR Media Release - June 23, 2011

Minister for Child Care Kate Ellis today encouraged parents to make themselves aware of the facts about child care. "Last night Channel 9 News aired a so-called investigative piece about the Australian Government's child care policies...

Childcare prices to rise
Nine News (video) - June 22, 2011

Parents be warned. In a few days child care prices across Sydney are going up again, and the hip pocket pain is set to continue with the government trying to push through new policy which would cut the Child Care Benefit for families...

Occasional Care Struggles for Funds
Pro Bono Australia - June 21, 2011

The Gillard Government has called on the Victorian Government to reconsider its decision not to continue funding a community based, occasional child care program called Take a Break, beyond the end of this year. The Federal Minister for Employment...

Reform leaves less spots for kids
Sunshine Coast Daily - Roxanne McCarty-O’Kane - 20th June 2011

THE Australian Childcare Alliance has expressed concerns hasty national quality reform could result in the loss of an average of six child care placements at each centre across Queensland. President Gwynn Bridge said there was not an even playing field...

Private health losses put at 30,000
The Australian - Brendan Nicholson and Sue Dunlevy - June 20, 2011

The government has already had to forgo $5.7 million in savings from the cap on the childcare rebate and was recently forced to index the payment because it could not get the measure through the Senate. The payment is due to be indexed again next month to over $8000 per child...

Key Note Address to the Child Care Queensland 2011 National Conference
DEEWR Media Release - June 19, 2011

The Australian Government recognises the critical importance of early education and care to families. We know that access to quality and affordable child care is an essential enabler of workforce participation – particularly for women...