The hidden cost of our expensive childcare system
PARENTS are being backed into a corner by the financial pressures of childcare, forcing some to make decisions that could impact their children for years, writes Lanai Scarr.
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PARENTS are in the dark about knowing when to send their children to preschool and on to formalised primary school learning.
As a mother of four kids — one of whom is in preschool — it has been a dilemma among my schoolyard and mother’s group conversations about when is the right time to move our kids up into primary school.
If they’re highly intelligent are they ready? Will they catch up? Do boys need to be older than girls? Will it really matter in the long run?
It’s one of the single most important decisions you will make for your child, that will shape the next 14 years of their lives, but there still is no easy answer.
To be blunt, parents need more assistance when making such an important decision before they enrol their kids in preschool.
They need clear resources that make the heartwrenching decision just a bit easier and also more support to make sure balancing the family budget isn’t the overwhelming deciding factor.
The reality is, every child is different and every family’s situation is different but right now parents are flying blind and often they are making decisions on when to send their child to preschool or primary school six months out from the actual event because enrolments start so early.
Despite the leading research out of bodies like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) all pointing to it being better for kids to be older when they first start school, the cost of living continues to creep up.
Data shows that kids who start school behind their peers are less likely to ever fully catch up, let alone overtake those they started with.
But base childcare rates continue to rise and although the government’s new childcare subsidy may make it slightly easier for some families, childcare will still remain a large chunk of their family budget.
Easing that cost by sending them to preschool or primary school has to weigh on the minds of some parents.
Research commissioned by News Corp Australia today showed one in four Australian parents say the rising cost of childcare is the biggest factor in deciding on when to send their kids to preschool.
They are being crippled under the weight of childcare costs more than their mortgage and even up to triple their weekly grocery shop and need the space, and lower fees, of primary school to allow them to financially breathe.
In Australia — the “lucky country” — this should not be the case.
Many other countries around the world are taking early learning seriously and are not placing parents in an impossible financial situation of pushing their kids into schooling early.
Most OECD countries offer two years of universal access to preschool — some have for decades.
Researcher have linked two years of preschool with student performance later at high school — particularly in science.
We need to get behind two-years of subsided preschool in Australia for all students.
The NSW government just announced more funding for two-years of preschool for some students but not all.
Tasmania also provides access to some disadvantaged children but not all.
Every child should have the opportunity to thrive and every family should have the right to not be cornered into a decision based on how much money they have left over to feed their family.
Lanai Scarr is a senior News Corp writer.