‘The Commonwealth government introduced funding for community based child care in 1972 and extended it to private/ for-profit commercial child care in 1991 What do you see as strengths and weaknesses in the Commonwealth funding approach since 1972, especially since 1991?’
This essay commences with a brief explanation of the Child Care Act that commenced in Australia on the 2nd of November in 1972 (Australian Government, 2012) and the political context surrounding its components that were introduced by the McMahon Liberal-Country Party (Logan, et al., 2013, p. 84). The essay will highlight elements and dominant discourses that mark the strengths and weaknesses of the Commonwealth funding approach since 1972 and beyond, that were important …show more content…
There is no mistaking that this was largely, the driving factor behind the increased demand for the provisions of ECEC (Bowes, et al., 2012, p. 261) by feminists and fellow childcare advocates. In addition to this, supporting analytical data collected within the statistical report titled, 'Parents and the Labour Market' a Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) highlights patterns of maternal and paternal employment by working mothers with young children in the context of largely increasing gender inequalities held by the labour market at the time, with ‘employment rates of mothers increasing quite rapidly during the first year of their child's life, to 31%’ (Gray, 2010, pp. 29-41) for those with a child that is around 6-8 months of age, making parenthood a significant handicap for the social inclusion of women with children in this age bracket returning to paid work. Over the decades since the 1970s, both part time and casual positions within varying employment sectors have increased in stature from 10% to approximately 25% (Bowes, et al., 2012, p. 248) and as mothers return to undertake paid employment, the distribution of hours worked, changes with the unexpected demands of family life and the required child care support. Unlike mothers, fathers' employment rates or hours worked do not appear to be related (Gray, 2010, pp. 29-41) …show more content…
Progressive weaknesses of the Act, because it was developed during a time when research about the contributing factors to, and the effects of, high-quality early childhood programs was only just beginning to emerge. Critical commentators argued that the Act had more than a few inadequacies. For example, a number of critics considered the Act contained features that did not encourage women’s workforce participation (Logan, et al., 2013, p. 88). The income threshold for access to government-subsidised fees was so low it excluded many low-income families and these families were forced to pay either full childcare costs at government-subsidised centres or use costly commercial centres (Adamson & Brennan, 2012, p. 267). Thirdly, many low-income families above the threshold cut off, costs associated with childcare led to a disincentive for women to return to work. Similarly, the Act did not support working parents with middle incomes because the stringent means test ‘virtually excluded those with both parents working’ (Logan, et al., 2013, p. 88). Furthermore, critics also commented on the limited capacity of the Act to provide a range of childcare options. For example, while the Act was considered a positive step towards providing publicly funded child care, it
This essay commences with a brief explanation of the Child Care Act that commenced in Australia on the 2nd of November in 1972 (Australian Government, 2012) and the political context surrounding its components that were introduced by the McMahon Liberal-Country Party (Logan, et al., 2013, p. 84). The essay will highlight elements and dominant discourses that mark the strengths and weaknesses of the Commonwealth funding approach since 1972 and beyond, that were important …show more content…
There is no mistaking that this was largely, the driving factor behind the increased demand for the provisions of ECEC (Bowes, et al., 2012, p. 261) by feminists and fellow childcare advocates. In addition to this, supporting analytical data collected within the statistical report titled, 'Parents and the Labour Market' a Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) highlights patterns of maternal and paternal employment by working mothers with young children in the context of largely increasing gender inequalities held by the labour market at the time, with ‘employment rates of mothers increasing quite rapidly during the first year of their child's life, to 31%’ (Gray, 2010, pp. 29-41) for those with a child that is around 6-8 months of age, making parenthood a significant handicap for the social inclusion of women with children in this age bracket returning to paid work. Over the decades since the 1970s, both part time and casual positions within varying employment sectors have increased in stature from 10% to approximately 25% (Bowes, et al., 2012, p. 248) and as mothers return to undertake paid employment, the distribution of hours worked, changes with the unexpected demands of family life and the required child care support. Unlike mothers, fathers' employment rates or hours worked do not appear to be related (Gray, 2010, pp. 29-41) …show more content…
Progressive weaknesses of the Act, because it was developed during a time when research about the contributing factors to, and the effects of, high-quality early childhood programs was only just beginning to emerge. Critical commentators argued that the Act had more than a few inadequacies. For example, a number of critics considered the Act contained features that did not encourage women’s workforce participation (Logan, et al., 2013, p. 88). The income threshold for access to government-subsidised fees was so low it excluded many low-income families and these families were forced to pay either full childcare costs at government-subsidised centres or use costly commercial centres (Adamson & Brennan, 2012, p. 267). Thirdly, many low-income families above the threshold cut off, costs associated with childcare led to a disincentive for women to return to work. Similarly, the Act did not support working parents with middle incomes because the stringent means test ‘virtually excluded those with both parents working’ (Logan, et al., 2013, p. 88). Furthermore, critics also commented on the limited capacity of the Act to provide a range of childcare options. For example, while the Act was considered a positive step towards providing publicly funded child care, it