If parental workforce participation is a major goal of Government policies, then child care is but one of an inter-related suite of policies which must be coordinated. Reformation of child care alone will not produce solutions.
To improve women’s workforce participation more effectively, t he Commonwealth Government must enhance the availability and accessibility to families, of before and after school care for school-aged children, says the National Foundation for Australian W omen (NFAW ), a leading independent women’s advocacy group.
NFAW recognises and respects the improvements to child care standards and fee relief systems which the current Commonwealth Government has brought about, including through important cooperation with the States and Territories. The NFAW notes that means of achieving greater time-flexibility and simplicity in funding arrangements are under consideration, but no announcements have been made as yet.
Since the 1980s the introduction of income tests on family payments has transformed Australia’s progressive individual income tax into a system with strong elements of joint taxation and a rate scale that has an inverted U-shaped profile – the highest marginal tax rates apply across low to average incomes and to the incomes of married mothers as second earners.
Conducted nationally among 526 parents /guardians of children aged 5 - 15 years. Respondents were selected via a random sample process which included a quota being set for each capital city and non-capital city area, and within each of these areas, a quota being set for groups of statistical divisions or subdivisions.
