EARLY LEARNING COSTS SKYROCKET MORE THAN FOUR TIMES INFLATION

Wednesday 30 October Families with children in early education and care are grappling
with sky-rocketing out-of-pocket costs.

Wednesday 30 October Families with children in early education and care are grappling with sky-rocketing out-of-pocket costs.

Early childhood education and care out of pocket costs have risen by 12.1 per cent in the 12 months to September 2024, the latest ABS data shows. That’s more than four times higher than the inflation rate of 2.8 per cent.

“Overall inflation figures may be down, but families with children enrolled in early childhood education and care are still struggling with high out of pocket costs,” The Parenthood CEO, Georgie Dent said.

“Families with young children are doing it tough."

“The federal government has recognised this financial pain and increased the Child Care Subsidy in July last year. However, these latest inflation figures show that private for-profit ECEC fee increases have eroded the increases to subsidies.

“We must do more to support parents and children in Australia.

“We need a universal early childhood education and care system where out of pocket costs are not a major impost on families and where barriers to access are broken down for children."

“The Parenthood is calling for a new early education and care funding model, with a fixed fee for parents and to make quality early learning free for low income families."

“This will ensure all children are able to access the benefits of high quality, universal early learning and deliver substantial financial relief for families struggling with the cost of living,” Ms Dent said.