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.
Research has linked outdoor play among young children to improved self-confidence, self-awareness and decision-making.
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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.
Working parents have to piece together different childcare arrangements to get through the summer school holidays.
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Candice Harris, Auckland University of Technology and 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.
As more mothers re-enter the workforce, employers, governments and schools must support them.
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Universal low-cost childcare and workplace flexibility will help mothers return to the workplace and are important investments in the Australian workforce.
Men under 35 want to take a more active role in caring for their children than older generations.
Family day care workers provide this essential service from their homes, but being classed as independent contractors means they lack many employment protections.
AFIMSC
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.
A mother in a low-income family can lose 85-95% of her earnings from working more days to income tax, loss of benefits and childcare costs.
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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.
Professor of Public Affairs and Faculty Director of the Center on Women, Gender and Public Policy, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
