Summer exposes a system still designed for a world where mums didn’t work

Parents across Australia were once again pushed to breaking point this January, as childcare ended weeks before school resumed and holiday programs proved costly, patchy or unavailable.

The result? Parents were forced to juggle the impossible — working as if their children weren’t home, and parenting as if work wasn’t happening.

The Parenthood says the annual “summer care gap” is a glaring example of how systems still act as if one parent is always home even though new research from Victoria shows four in five mums now work.

“Paid work is no longer niche for mums. It’s normal. It’s necessary. But childcare, schools and workplaces are still designed for another era — and families are left to patch together care around systems that don’t reflect reality,” The Parenthood CEO Georgie Dent said.

“Every January, care ends before work does. Parents cut hours, take unpaid leave or rely on grandparents and friends. Families absorb the chaos. Employers absorb the productivity loss. And everyone pays the price for systems that haven’t caught up.”

Ms Dent said Australia should be the best place in the world to be a parent and raise a child — but instead, January exposes how fragmented and unforgiving the system remains.

“Parents aren’t failing — the system is. The care gap isn’t inevitable. It’s a design flaw we can fix with better coordination between early learning, school and work.”

The Parenthood is calling for:

• Better alignment between childcare and school calendars.
• Universal access to affordable, high-quality out-of-school-hours and holiday care.
• Genuine workplace flexibility during predictable care gaps such as January.
• Recognition that care is essential infrastructure, not a private problem.

Currently, families must bridge the gap between 12 weeks of school holidays and just four weeks of annual leave — if they’re lucky — on their own.

“When parents reduce hours or step out of work, it’s not because they lack commitment,” Ms Dent said. “They’re pushed out by systems that make participation impossible.”

The economic cost is significant. Modelling from the Grattan Institute shows that improving access to affordable early childhood education and care could boost GDP by up to $27 billion annually, evidence that when care works, the economy thrives.

“This isn’t about luxury or convenience,” Ms Dent said. “It’s about creating systems that support parents, children and employers alike. When families thrive, so does the nation.”