‘Excited’: Childcare sector cheers Labor’s $4 billion policy
Childcare operators have broadly welcomed Labor’s $4 billion childcare policy saying it would improve options for low income earners and attract staff to the sector.
Labor this week pledged to increase the childcare subsidy available to families with household incomes under $175,000 a year by lifting the current 85 per cent subsidy for low-income families to 100 per cent for all those earning less than $69,527. Labor would also fund a 20 per cent increase in the wages of early childhood educators over the next eight years.
Australia’s largest childcare provider, Goodstart Early Learning, a not-for-profit with 645 centres across Australia which caters for 60,000 families said Labor’s policy is well targeted and will support a lot of families.