The AFR View
The economic case for higher childcare spending should stack up
Simply throwing more money at the system doesn’t seem to be the answer for cheaper childcare or increasing women’s participation in the workforce.
The Productivity Commission released its much-awaited review of early childhood education on Wednesday. The commission says that the changes it proposes to improve the affordability and accessibility of childcare services would cost an extra $4.7 billion a year.
Strangely, these cost projections are based on the $12.7 billion cost of childcare subsidies written into the May 2023 budget. Yet the latest revised budget forecasts put the cost of the childcare system, before any changes, at $14.5 billion.
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