Adapting to New Changes in Childcare
In this article, we dive into how changes in childcare impact your family.
The Government says that the changes are “deliberately targeted at low- and middle-income earners with approximately half of the families benefiting having a family income below $130,000”.
What will you be affected by these changes? Not shortly. The changes won’t be implemented until July 2022. Some families will benefit greatly after that.
Our analysis shows that the policy package will not do much to improve the affordability of child care for families with low and middle incomes. It will not address the systemic issues.
Stabilize Child Care
There is also no evidence to suggest that children who experience only changes in the providers of their childcare setting will have difficulties with social development in pre-kindergarten. This could be good for parents who are worried about the high teacher turnover or other changes to staff in their childcare setting.
The findings have practical implications, however. They suggest that programs could make extra efforts to integrate all children into their care regardless of how they were cared for in the past.
They say that childcare subsidies can be modified to provide parents with stable childcare. As subsidies are often linked to parental employment status, instability in employment can lead to unstable child care.
People believe that more research is needed to better understand how childcare instability and other factors affect child development.
She says that instability in childcare may also be a sign of chaos within families. We want to prepare our children to face the challenges of education, so we need to know all the obstacles that they may face.
What Does Affordability in Childcare Mean?
Many discussions on childcare affordability focus on hourly costs and anecdotal data based on the circumstances of individual families.
The average amount of money families pay out-of-pocket is also important. It’s difficult to determine the true cost of childcare without understanding affordability.
Australia has addressed the affordability of housing and energy costs. Housing stress is defined, for instance, as households with lower incomes spending more than 30% of their gross income on housing.
In Australia, there is no comparable threshold for childcare affordability.
The US Department of Health and Human Services set a “cost threshold” of 7 per cent of the family’s take-home pay for families with low and middle income. Child care becomes “unaffordable” if they spend more than 7 per cent.
The effects of these measures on affordability
Families in this situation will benefit greatly from increased subsidies in child care for families with two children under 5 years old. Child care is still unaffordable to many.
According to the government, this package will benefit 250,000 families. There are nearly 1 million families who use child care. The majority of these families are not likely to benefit from the changes.
According to our analysis, 41 per cent of families who have a child under the age of five will continue spending more than 7 per cent on child care.
This includes half of households with an annual disposable income between A$100001 and A$125,000.
A family earning a combined annual gross income of A$102,000 still faces out-of-pocket costs of A$11,000 for full-time childcare.
Our analysis shows that even though these measures are intended to make child care more affordable for families who “really need it most,” child care will still be unaffordable for many Australian families.
It will not make funding for childcare and subsidy less complex, despite recent reforms that were aimed at simplification.
What About Pre-school?
Uncertainty still exists about how the changes will affect other aspects of the early childhood care and education system.
Children who attend preschool are eligible for different subsidies. Families may choose to use childcare services that are cheaper instead of preschools if childcare subsidies increase significantly.
This would be an extremely perverse result, as preschools are often rated higher in quality and play a key role in helping children transition into school.
Early Childhood Services Funding
In the past 100 years, different types of services have been funded by governments according to social and economic conditions. During World War II (1940-1945), for example, the Australian government heavily funded childcare services to allow women to participate in the war effort. After World War II, the Australian government reduced its involvement with childcare and offered incentives for women to leave the workforce to make room for returning soldiers. The government’s support for childcare decreased and remained minimal until the women’s movement resurgence in the 1960s and 70s.
The Australian Government, as well as most states and territories, provide some form of subsidized preschool education to children aged three or four. Some jurisdictions provide a fully-funded Preschool entitlement the year before full-time schooling, while others make some provision. However, participation in Preschool is up to the parents’ discretion and depends on their ability to pay fees. In NSW, for example, there is no entitlement to free preschool education from the state government. However, the government does provide subsidies to children aged four years old who attend funded Preschools or Long Day Care Centers. The average fee can reach up to AUD 38.50 a day (Council of Social Service of NSW 2009).
What else is needed for childcare?
Focusing on economic growth and women’s participation in the workforce is also at odds with a greater focus on quality services for children and a decent path for early childhood educators.
The changes are designed to increase the demand for childcare. The same challenges will arise when scaling up the sector to meet the demand. The quality of the service is at risk, which is crucial in a field that affects so directly children’s development, health, and well-being.
While these changes are welcomed by many, there is no plan in place to deal with the more complex problems.
Unstable Child Care Can Affect Children
Children’s early development is affected by unstable child care, particularly in the case of children who are experiencing frequent changes in caregivers or routines. Children can feel anxious and insecure when they are exposed to frequent changes in caregivers or routines. When stability and trust are disturbed, young children may have attachment issues and struggle to form healthy relationships. This instability may also impact their behaviour, emotional regulation and academic performance in the future. Children may not get the nurturing and attention they need to develop confidence. This can affect their social skills and feelings of safety. Long-term, instability in child care can lead to developmental delays, stress and difficulties coping with new situations or challenges.
