What is so extraordinary about this essentially bipartisan rush to throw taxpayer money at childcare is it has taken place without any real debate about whether it is a good idea to get mothers back into the workforce so quickly, writes Roshena Campbell...
As a country we appear endlessly willing to increase the childcare subsidy pot to get mothers working.
will add a whopping extra $5.4 billion in subsidies. Even families earning up to $530,000 will be eligible for childcare subsidised by the state. If we are serious about giving working women choices, governments need to also be willing to support them in the choice of staying at home in the early years.
If we are serious about giving working women choices, governments need to also be willing to support them in the choice of staying at home in the early years. There’s no doubt meeting a child’s physical and emotional needs is draining, but it is also highly skilled work. And work that has a momentous impact on the next generation.Parents’ engagement with their children in that period has an impact on their later education and life experiences.
Even if we accept the benefits to the children themselves, surely if parents choose to start families that’s a matter for them.For one thing, the nation stands to benefit if we make it easier for people to have families. Twenty years after Peter Costello famously asked families to “have one for mum, one for dad and one for the country”, our fertility rate has plummeted to record lows. At a rate of 1.
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