This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
PARENTS in regional, rural and remote communities are on the brink of burnout due to the lack of local early childhood education and care facilities and services, and governments need to step in where the private sector is baulking, according to a new report.
A new report from The Parenthood, The negative impacts of inaccessible early learning on regional, rural and remote communities, shares more than 160 stories of parents, carers, educators and community leaders who are impacted by the shortage of early learning and care.
“Without early learning and care options, parents and carers who want – and need – to work face a dilemma. They must either forego paid employment and career opportunities to stay home with their children, or devise makeshift solutions which often come with their own setbacks,” the report said.
“The result is that a significant proportion of regional, rural and remote families are wrestling with financial hardship. This year, The Parenthood conducted a poll of 855 regional, rural and remote parents. 86% of parents struggling to access care responded that this lack of access causes financial stress.
Campaign director at The Parenthood, Maddy Butler, country towns are “no longer the affordable and relaxed places to raise children they once were”.
“Having more accessible early learning services has the power to change that.
“Regional, rural and remote parents’ mental health is suffering as they navigate searching and waiting for early learning spots, making alternative arrangements and juggling caring responsibilities with paid work. It shouldn’t be this complicated.
She said the shortage of services is far worse outside of the cities, where “it’s common for more than three children to compete for every childcare place”.
“This, combined with record high regional house prices and generally more costly expenses like groceries and petrol put parents from regional, rural and remote communities at a real disadvantage.”
One respondent, identified as Rhianna from Warrnambool in Victoria, said, “With the increase in our mortgage due to rate rises, it’s a really tricky battle financially.
“It’s certainly week to week and to have to um and ah about putting the heater on at night to keep him warm and wondering how the electricity bill is going is pretty scary.”
Others told of the negative impact on their careers and ability to earn money.
“The lack of childcare access has meant that I needed to leave my corporate role and rely on online side hustles – dropping from a reliable income of $81,000 a year for four days’ work in an office role to a very irregular payment from the side hustles that can’t pay for living expenses,” said K. Williams of Dubbo in NSW.
Kathryn Henderson, of Yackandandah in Victoria, said, “For myself, the impacts of the current daycare shortages include my ability to increase my hours at work. I can only work two days a week currently (with my mum helping out one day). I have a mortgage and this has added financial pressure to my life.”
The report shows essential workers such as nurses, teachers, early childhood educators and psychologists are reducing their working hours or quitting altogether as there are no appropriate care options for their children.
“They tell us they feel socially isolated and burnt out as they go to extremes to find makeshift care solutions, like working through the night, to stay financially afloat and make sure their kids are looked after,” Butler said.
Farming families are another group “stranded” without appropriate care options, impacting demand for agriculture workers.
In May this year, The Parenthood and more than 50 organisations spanning health, education and agriculture launched the Access for Every Child Rural Coalition in Canberra.
They are calling for stronger government management of the early childhood education and care system so that every family that wants access can have it. Around 70% of the current system is privately run.
“Governments can fix this. Early childhood education and care cannot be left to the private sector alone. Private providers aren’t setting up shop in many country towns because there’s no guarantee of a profit. But this is an essential service that children, families and communities need,” Butler said.
Butler said that while the federal government’s wage rise for early childhood educators was the first step towards a universal system where every child has access, further incentives are needed to address educator shortages in regional, rural and remote communities.
