Day one of the election campaign and working parents got some attention Monday by way of Kevin Rudd’s $450 million promise to boost after-school hours care in 500 schools.
It should go some way to relieve the pressures associated with the school drop-off and pick-up rush hours, which we know simply don’t match standard office hours.
The change will put some flexibility into the system, with school holiday periods expected to also be covered to help relieve at least some of pain associated with the fact school kids can get around 12 weeks holiday a year, compared to the four weeks the average full-time working parent receives.
It’s great news for those with school-aged children, but problems will persist in acquiring affordable, accessible and flexible childcare for those with younger kids.
If yesterday’s announcement is a measure to get more women into the workforce — which Rudd claims it is — then it fails to address the fact many of those same women may still have missed years of work due to the expense, inconvenience and often sheer impossibility of accessing childcare.
It’s all very well to get back into the workforce once kids reach school-age, but those missed years will significantly inhibit a woman’s earning capacity and the type of role she can access once she’s ready to return.
We’ve heard from plenty of women who’ve experienced year-long waits attempting to get a childcare spot, and others who end up making multiple childcare drop offs daily due to an inability to secure more than one spot in the same centre. That’s hardly conducive to productivity.
And childcare is simply getting more expensive. As the Australian Childcare Alliance found earlier this year, 81% of parents have faced fee hikes over the past year. In a message to both parties, 90% of those surveyed claimed they’d vote for the party that could make childcare easier.
Meanwhile, with 3500 schools nationally without before and after school care programs according to The Australian, Monday’s promise that’s expected to benefit 68,000 children who don’t currently access before and after-school care can only spread so far.
There are 32 days left in this election campaign. Lets hope we see more measures to address childcare for a wider range of children.