The Parent Trap
Labor is in the final stages of preparing a multi-billion dollar package to create ‘universal childcare’ in Australia, which will be the centrepiece of its election pitch.
There’s been a lot of speculation about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s plan for a multi-billion dollar universal childcare package. But what do we mean by "universal", and what exactly is the government planning?
Albanese went to the last election outlining a vision of universal childcare, and after winning government he tasked the Productivity Commission (PC) to look into it.
The problem is, the PC did not recommend what Labor wanted — that is, a universal system. The PC’s comprehensive report, released in September, proposed an increase to existing childcare subsidies while keeping the same structure.
For the first child, the PC recommended a 100% subsidy for families whose combined income is under $80,000, and then dropping by one percentage point for every extra $5000 of income up to $580,000. For parents with multiple children under five, the PC proposed subsequent children get a 100% subsidy up to an income level of $140,000, dropping gradually until the cut-off of $580,000.
