Page 104 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 25 February 2014
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Along with rates increases, electricity costs going up and petrol prices at $1.60 a litre, we have child care hitting $100 a day. So if you are a mother or a father who wants to return to work, you could be spending at least $500 a week of your income on child care alone, for one child. And if you have twins or other multiple births or a number of children under school age, there is no volume discount. What is the impact of that on our society? Why is it important for us to ensure we have affordable child care?
Firstly, we do have an interesting demographic here in Canberra. Due to the nature of the work here, we have a large transitory population—defence families and other public servants who move here for employment. That means we have a large number of families with young children who do not always have the ability to get childcare assistance from friends and relatives. We have some families who rely 100 per cent on childcare services.
These families move to Canberra and need to work. They do not have grandparents, brothers and sisters or aunties and uncles who can help them out for a day here and there. They do not have that kind of support. They then need to have childcare options available to them for the entire time they are at work, whether it is part time, full time or shiftwork. It is an expensive venture.
Another thing about the ACT is that we have one of the highest rates of female workforce participation, which indicates that more mothers in the ACT return to work than in other jurisdictions. A huge factor in that decision-making process is the cost of living. Many families cannot afford to have both parents return to work. As Mr Hanson said earlier, childcare costs in the ACT have doubled in the last six years. But if you take into account the increases in other daily necessities across the board—electricity, rent, rates, fuel and food—everything is increasing.
It is not a new revelation that we have the highest cost of child care in the nation. It has been that way for a while. But we really need to take steps to address the situation. We cannot afford for this to continue to increase. Our economy cannot afford it, and our families cannot afford it. It is untenable to be in the position where mothers cannot afford to return to work because childcare costs are holding them back.
Australia already has a smaller proportion of working mothers than a number of other OECD countries, such as Britain, Canada, the US and New Zealand. The Australian Bureau of Statistics predicts that potentially 70,000 Australian women are being kept out of work due to childcare expenses. Given that the ACT has the highest cost of child care in the country, it would be interesting to explore what the statistics are here.
We need to be providing an environment where families have the support they need without being put under incredible financial pressure. Child care is a huge cost of living burden, and the government cannot shun responsibility for Canberrans paying so much more than any other area.
Discussion concluded.
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