5 years ago
AN INCREASE IN CHILD CARE FEES UNDER THE LIBERALS
THE HON AMANDA RISHWORTH MP
The latest quarterly report on child care fees confirms what most families already know - child care fees continue to rise under the Liberals.
Since the election of the Liberals in 2013, total child care fees have grown by more than 20 per cent (to March 2018).
The cost of long day care, the type of child care most people use, increased by more than $2,500 a year for child care under the Liberals – 20 per cent more.
When the Liberals were elected in September 2013, families paid on average $11,016 for a year of care (30 hours a week, 48 weeks a year, before government subsidies are applied).
In March 2018, they paid $13,680.
What is more worrying, since the Liberals introduced their unfair child care changes, according the government’s own figures, 1 in 4 families have been left worse off.
It will cost, on average, $5,300 a year for families on less than $65,710 that don’t meet the Liberals’ new activity test to replace the day of early education they have lost.
For single income families of those marginally attached to the labour market, they will pay more than $10,000 more a year to replace the two days of care they have lost.
For parents struggling to pay these fees, the Government’s response has been to helpfully suggest families simply ‘change centres’.
In stark contrast, Labor announced the biggest ever investment in early childhood education in Australia with our $1.75 billion National Preschool and Kindy Program.
Labor’s plan will see around 700,000 three and four year olds access preschool and kindy every year. This will also help parents balance work and family and help reduce the child care bill for families with children already in early education.
Since the election of the Liberals in 2013, total child care fees have grown by more than 20 per cent (to March 2018).
The cost of long day care, the type of child care most people use, increased by more than $2,500 a year for child care under the Liberals – 20 per cent more.
When the Liberals were elected in September 2013, families paid on average $11,016 for a year of care (30 hours a week, 48 weeks a year, before government subsidies are applied).
In March 2018, they paid $13,680.
What is more worrying, since the Liberals introduced their unfair child care changes, according the government’s own figures, 1 in 4 families have been left worse off.
It will cost, on average, $5,300 a year for families on less than $65,710 that don’t meet the Liberals’ new activity test to replace the day of early education they have lost.
For single income families of those marginally attached to the labour market, they will pay more than $10,000 more a year to replace the two days of care they have lost.
For parents struggling to pay these fees, the Government’s response has been to helpfully suggest families simply ‘change centres’.
In stark contrast, Labor announced the biggest ever investment in early childhood education in Australia with our $1.75 billion National Preschool and Kindy Program.
Labor’s plan will see around 700,000 three and four year olds access preschool and kindy every year. This will also help parents balance work and family and help reduce the child care bill for families with children already in early education.