Child Care Survey Results Heartening news for the child care industry Results of the CareforKids.com.au Annual Child Care and Workforce Participation Survey have again provided an interesting snapshot of child care services across Australia and offer some heartening news for child care providers. This year's survey was completed by more than a thousand parents nationwide with children already in care or currently looking for care. CareforKids.com.au Founder Roxanne Elliott says the survey has become a benchmark of the state of the nation's child care system and that it provides a forum for parents to share their views. 'It polls parents on all aspects of child care and returning to work: from their opinions on child care policies and paid maternity leave; difficulty in finding child care; its cost and affordability; knowledge of child care benefit; motivations for returning to work; workplace attitudes and support from employers,' she said. Key Findings Increased Numbers The survey showed that while parents are mixing up their child care and often using several types of care, the vast majority of children (87 per cent) attend a pre-school or child care centre. 11 per cent of respondents have children in family day care, just under 10 per cent use a nanny or au pair and 15 per cent of parents rely on a grandparent. High Quality and High Cost The survey showed that parents are overwhelmingly happy with the service provided by their child care provider, despite the fact that children are starting care young and doing very long days. 70 per cent of parents reported that their children eat, sleep and play really well in care, talk about their teachers at home and seem generally happy to go to care in the morning. In addition 72 per cent of respondents thought their child care provider gave them excellent facilities and services while just 25 per cent reported they received average facilities and service. Parents were quick to identify areas they would like change: 21 per cent said they were happy with their child care just as it is, however, almost half said they would prefer the cost to be reduced, a fifth would like better services and a fifth would like more convenient hours of operation. Improvements in Affordability Nearly 20 per cent of parents reported that their child care arrangements had been affected by the current economic climate: 46 per cent of those changed the number of days they used child care and 22 per cent changed child care providers due to the increased cost of care. 22 per cent of parents are paying more than $80 per day (before benefits and rebate) compared to 15 per cent last year. 73 per cent are paying $40-80 per day compared to 66 per cent last year. 29 per cent are paying between $200 and $300 per week compared to 22 per cent last year, and 29 per cent are paying more than $300 compared to 20 per cent last year. However changes to the Child Care Tax Rebate and the Child Care Benefit may be making an impact: Last year 30 per cent of parents reported that working was not financially viable in terms of income versus child care costs, and this year's survey showed that the number of parents who felt this way had reduced to 22 per cent. Some 78 per cent of respondents said the Child Care Tax Rebate would or does make a significant impact to the affordability of child care. Availability 80 per cent of respondents reported that they found the care they wanted eventually. While 38 per cent said they found care within two months 17 per cent said it took them over a year. In total just 15 per cent of respondents were unable to find the care they wanted. Only five per cent of parents said they were affected by centre closures, which is surprising given the high number of closures we have seen in the last 12 months. Of that number 65 per cent were unable to find a suitable care alternative within a month and reported that their employment was affected. Interestingly exactly 50 per cent said they found the search for child care extremely difficult and frustrating while the other 50 per cent said their experience was positive. To read all the survey results click here or to talk to your child care colleagues about the results of the CareforKids.com.au Annual Child Care and Workforce Participation Survey click here.

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