EXCERPTS
- Average cost of childcare in Australia has risen by 150% since 2003
- Most families across Sydney paying more than national average
- The cost of childcare in Sydney has sky-rocketed in the past decade with some centres charging as much as $160 per day for each child.
The spiralling costs of care are placing increasing pressure on families who are struggling to cope with the rising costs of living.Childcare fees are now so high that average mum in Sydney returning to full-time work can expect to lose about two-thirds of her take home pay.
New figures obtained exclusively by NewsLocal reveal exactly what parents are paying for childcare in each suburb of Sydney.
They show fees across the city are higher than the national average of $75 per day in most areas.
Some of the most expensive centres are in the inner west, the lower north shore and eastern suburbs where fees on average top $120 per day.
This compares to as little as $65 in outer suburbs such as Campbelltown, Liverpool and Mt Druitt.
The cheapest centre in Sydney is $60 at Campbelltown while the most expensive is $160 at Mosman.
The figures were compiled by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling which has released a report on childcare affordability revealing a sharp rise over the past decade.
It found the average cost of childcare in Australia has risen by 150 per cent, from about $30 per day in 2003 to $75 last year.
"The most expensive areas are those around Sydney Harbour and the CBD including Manly, Ryde, Hunters Hill and Canada Bay," said the report's author Ben Phillips.
"You find it gets cheaper the further you go out."
Even though the Federal Government ends up paying about half of the cost of childcare, the average family will still be out of pocket almost $5000 each year.
The report also reveals the costs are taking a huge chunk out of the take home pay packets of mothers who decide to return to work.
It found fees have risen so much that a mum returning to full-time work can now expect to lose about two-thirds of her gross income, once childcare costs, loss of benefits and higher income tax rates are accounted for.
"The average Australian mother keeps only one-third of her hourly wage when returning to work full-time," the report states.
A mother from a low-income family faces losing 69 per cent of her income if she returns to part-time work after having a child.She would keep less than a third of her pay, or $5.10 of her $16.37 hourly wage. If she went back full-time, she would walk away with just $4.55 of her hourly pay.
A mother from a high-income family, where she returns part-time to a job paying $100,000, would lose 48 per cent of her take home salary to the cost of childcare, income tax and loss of government benefits. Her hourly pay would be cut from $48 to $25.
While government subsidies have kept a lid on the out-of-pocket costs for parents, the report says "it is hard to escape the conclusion they have also helped drive up prices and cost to government."
"The higher prices go, the more financial assistance families will require and so the cycle continues," it said.
Strong demand and a lack of supply in some areas is also driving up prices, Mr Phillips said, as well as government subsidies which hit $5 billion a year, up from $900 million in 1999.
Worryingly for young parents, the CEO of Early Childhood Australia Samantha Page, says fees will continue to rise, with Federal Government's forecasts pointing to price hikes of about seven per cent each year for the next four years.
The Government has recognised the system is "unsustainable" and tasked the Productivity Commission to look into it ahead of announcing changes next year. A draft report is due in July.
Federal Assistant Minister for Education Sussan Ley said parts of the childcare system are in "crisis" and the Government has begun fixing the problem.
"What we want to do is bring some relief to families at a time when they're stressing with mortgage repayments, with young children, with two parents building a life together and just not being able to cope with the child care problem," she said.
Opposition Early Childhood spokeswoman Kate Ellis said the government had the "wrong priorities" on childcare.
"On the one hand they are promising to improve affordability and undertake a comprehensive review, but on the other they are cutting existing support," she said.
"Tony Abbott is persisting with his paid parental scheme that will give wealthy families $50,000 to have a baby at the same time as cutting the practical child care support low and middle-income families rely on every day."
-reprinted from the Daily Telegraph