Increasing the government's share of childcare cost to near full funding would boost the post-pandemic economy by as much as $7.4 billion and help address gender inequality, according to KPMG.

A policy proposal by the consulting firm suggested increasing taxpayer funding – taking the federal government’s child care subsidy (CCS) benefit from 85 per cent to 95 per cent – would increase tax receipts, improve workforce participation and secure better shared caring responsibilities.