Investment in UK childcare should go towards better pay and conditions for workers. This could also help increase availability and affordability for parents.
Early childhood education isn’t about warehousing children so adults can go to work. There is an ethical imperative to support a paradigm shift in how our society values educating young children.
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Grattan Institute’s Danielle Wood on election’s thin policy debate
Michelle Grattan speaks with Danielle Wood, the CEO of the Grattan Institute, an independent think tank, where policy experts research and advocate for policies to improve Australians' lives.
They’re among the lowest-paid in the country but are working many hours unpaid to meet the demands of accreditation. With 73% wanting to leave the profession in the next three years, change is needed.
Labor is promising to help hundreds of thousands of families have access to more affordable childcare. This is an important investment but the details of how it will work must be given priority.
Candice Harris, Auckland University of Technology dan Jarrod Haar, Auckland University of Technology
We know summer school holidays can be challenging, stressful and expensive for working parents but we still know very little about how families juggle conflicting demands.
Universal low-cost childcare and workplace flexibility will help mothers return to the workplace and are important investments in the Australian workforce.
Family day care workers have much in common with home-based workers in the garment industry. But the latter are classed as employees, resulting in better representation and protected work conditions.
Miranda Stewart, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
An 85-95% effective marginal tax rate means the second earner in a low-income family can increase from two days’ work a week to three, four or five days and be better off by only about $4,000 a year.