Each week day care costs my family nearly three hundred dollars. That’s for three days care, split between two children. That’s a lot of dough.
It’s a Catch 22. I want my kids’ day care to be well staffed by qualified teachers and providers, who will educate and look after my children, sometimes for as long as 10 hours a day. But to afford this, I need to work … a lot.
I am thinking about working full-time again, but have no idea how I am supposed to afford day care while sustaining a decent income. So far, it doesn’t seem worth it.
The median income in Australia is just over $1200 a week, per household. The average day care cost in Australia? $80 a day.
That means for two kids, you’re looking at a whopping $800 a week in day care fees.
It’s expensive, inaccessible and unacceptable.
The last reform to fees was made before the 2007 election: the childcare rebate was increased to 50 per cent. This was good, except to meet the newly lowered staff-child ratios … childcare centres raised their fees.
Plus, the rebate is only available if you use a long day care centre or family day care in someone’s home. Employ a nanny, and your pockets will have to be even deeper.
It’s an election year, and so far the response on childcare has been pretty poor from both sides of the policy fence.
Labor wants to continue the rebate, but it will be re-indexed next year that means it could be lowered. The Liberals say they’ll pay the rebate weekly — so parents don’t have to be out of pocket for as long.
Nannies are being ignored by Labor, who claim they’re only for the rich, which is a shame. The Liberals see their potential value for all families, and promise they’ll get the Productivity Commission to look into their potential for a rebate. It’s a good first step.
Neither party addresses the real problem: that quality day care should be available to all, not just the rich. Women are being effectively locked out of the workforce because of the staggering costs associated with child-minding before school age.
In countries like Denmark, parents have to pay just 25 per cent of the cost of childcare — with the state funding the rest. The average cost of day care? Around $140 a week for a fulltime place.
Cheaper childcare means women have options. We can return to work sooner if we want to, knowing that our kids are being well-cared for by trained professionals. We can make sure our careers don’t suffer, that our kids know that Mum is just as capable at working as Dad, and is still a great parent.
We need options. It’s an election year and I for one am waiting.
Your say: Have you gone back to work full-time? How do you afford it?
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