RUDD GOVERNMENT CHILDCARE AGENDA IGNORES WHAT PARENTS WANT

13-August-2009

The Rudd Labor Government’s childcare and early learning agenda has been seriously undermined by the Department’s own research about what parents want in childcare, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Childcare Sophie Mirabella said today.

 Reforms won’t deliver what parents want

 “The Rudd Government is blindly moving ahead with childcare reforms that have the potential to add hundreds of dollars to the cost of childcare – but will not deliver what parents want.  It’s time they took a step back and started listening to parents, and to the findings of their own research.”

 “The report this morning that the government “hopes to lure more mothers back to work by making childcare more appealing” really makes you question what sort of social engineering experiment they’re conducting.  They tried to ram through a politically correct curriculum for toddlers, but had to tone it back.”

 “Now it’s clear that they want to get mothers into full-time work and have them handing over their babies to “better qualified” carers.  This social engineering is undermining the value of parenting and the choice most parents make to spend time caring for their children when they are young,” Mrs Mirabella said.

 Parents are making the choice to parent

 According to the specially-commissioned DEEWR Report, many mothers are shunning full-time work because they want to spend time with their children – “they enjoyed being with them or thought it was the best option for their child”.

 This conclusion is backed up by the recent ABS Report which found that only 22% of children aged 0-12 attend any type of formal childcare - and only around 7% of all children attending formal care did so full-time (35 hours or more).  In reality, a fraction of less than 1% of all children attend formal care full-time. Even in the peak age group of 0-4 year olds, 66% of children were cared for informally by parents or relatives, rather than in formal childcare.  When it comes to children under 1 year old, that figure rises to 91%.

 “Instead of pushing through these reforms on ratios and staff qualifications, which will impact enormously on the cost of childcare, the Government should look at the facts and ensure we have a childcare system that delivers what parents want – not what academics or social engineers consider most important.”

 “Parents identified “experience” as being more important than formal qualifications.  Parents also need to have responsibility for deciding what type and level of care works for them and their children.”

 “More importantly, the Government should be encouraging and supporting parents who chose to work part-time or use other flexible work arrangements in order to care for their own children.  The ABS report found a massive 64% of all parents used flexible workplace arrangements in order to spend more time caring for their children.”

 “It’s disturbing that that the report talks about “targeting” women who use very little childcare and “improving parent awareness of the value of formal carer education”.”

 “We all want the best possible care for our children.  For many parents, that’s a mix of part-time formal and informal care.  The Government must support the choices parents are making – not undermine them.”