Families ‘paying an extra $7k’ for childcare under the Coalition

A new report claims childcare is costing Australian families significantly more annually than it was before the Coalition was elected in 2013.

According to the Daily Telegraph, couples earning a combined income of $155,000 are paying an extra $7440 a year to have their children cared for.

Families on a combined or single income of $75,000 are paying an extra $1350 a year per child, equating to $26 of the weekly budget for a single-child family.

Parents are facing the increased costs despite the billions of dollars the Government has spent on a childcare rebate that covers 50 percent of out-of-pocket expenses up to $7500 for eligible families.

Of the rebate and proposed changes by the Coalition to introduce a more generous scheme for some families, Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the objective is to help Australian parents.

“More affordable access to quality child care puts the opportunity of work within reach for more families,” Mr Birmingham said.

Last year the Abbott Government introduced tougher rules on the number of hours a parent needs to work each week to receive subsidised childcare.

Shadow Education Minister Kate Ellis said Australian families are paying the costs of the Malcolm Turnbull’s inaction when it comes to capping childcare service fees.

“He is going to cap the assistance Australian families receive,” Ms Ellis said

“This Government’s approach to child care has been completely shambolic. The Liberals will go an entire term without doing a single thing to address spiralling fees and escalating out-of-pocket costs.”