The NSW Government is bending over backwards to help James Packer build a new casino in Sydney.
But what is Premier Mike Baird doing to build vital social infrastructure like childcare facilities?
When it comes to childcare, the best the Premier has to offer is “it’s not my problem.”
Well, it should be.
Economists say that increasing the workforce participation rate is crucial to lifting our national productivity. And one of the most obvious ways to increase workforce participation is to encourage more women into the workforce.
Allowing women who want to work greater opportunities to go back to work should therefore be an important economic objective for government.
Any mother knows that the biggest barrier to getting back into and staying in the workforce is childcare.
But there is another reason the government should be investing in creating more spaces.
Research has also shown that our brains go through a period of intense development between the ages of 0 and 3 years old. This is a critical time of early learning, when children need to be constantly stimulated and taught fundamental cognitive skills.
Investment in early learning is therefore vital to building the long-term skills and capacity of our workforce, and just as important as other stages of the education process.
That’s why a smart society looks after its youngest citizens, and ensures that they get the best start in life.
This week I hosted a community meeting in Elizabeth Bay, with the Executive Director of The Parenthood Fiona Sugden, Deputy NSW Opposition Leader Linda Burney, and City of Sydney Councillor Linda Scott.
We met with members of the local community to discuss the challenges of balancing parenting and careers in the city.
It was clear that Sydney has a childcare crisis. It’s a crisis borne of booming demand, limited supply, and chronic government failure to understand the needs of the community.
There are currently 3,104 children on the waiting lists of childcare centres in the City of Sydney. That’s around 3, 000 Sydney mothers unable to get back into the workforce.
Sydney faces this problem because research shows that 70% of parents prefer to leave their kids at centres that are close to where they work.
I’m one of those parents – my 16 month old boy, Ryder, goes to a fantastic (but expensive) childcare centre across the road from my office in the city.
This is convenient and practical, as I want to be able to respond quickly if there is an emergency.
Having childcare facilities close to work is even more important for mothers who are breastfeeding.
These practical considerations mean that inner city childcare centres are overflowing, and most charge non-refundable fees just to get on the waiting list.
Parents who live in the city are thus having to fight for limited childcare places with parents who work in the city.
Private operators are cashing in on this situation big time – charging up to $168 per child per day.
It’s understandable that centres charge full fees for days when your child is sick and can’t attend for a day, or even a few days.
But it’s also standard practice for centres to charge parents full fees if they take a longer planned break, such as a holiday. Some centres on-sell the vacant childcare place to another family on their waiting list – effectively selling the same place twice.
Many centres even charge parents full fees for public holidays, when their doors stay firmly shut.
We’re paying $600 a week to have Ryder in care. Government rebates takes the hard edge off this cost, but when you combine childcare with jaw-dropping Sydney rents, the cost of inner city living is prohibitive even for professional working couples.
Work is important to me, but if I can’t make ends meet then I may have to make the difficult to sacrifice my career as a lawyer.
It seems counter-intuitive – giving up work to save money – but that’s the system we have put in place supposedly to “support parents” in this city.
Advocacy groups such as The Parenthood are providing a voice for over 20,000 Australian parents, who are otherwise powerless in this equation.
But it is the responsibility of governments at all levels to make sure the childcare industry is working in a way that best benefits society.
The State Government has a clear role to play – making it easier for new childcare centres to get up and running, and making better use of existing social infrastructure like schools and community centres.
It’s time for Mike Baird to get his head around the issues that matter to the people of Sydney and all across NSW.
We need access to affordable and flexible childcare more than we need casinos.