Average family saving $3k on childcare due to subsidy, data shows

January 28, 2025 journo

The average Australian family has saved around $2700 on childcare costs since the Labor government introduced subsidies over a year ago, new figures show.

Fresh data from the Department of Education has found an average family on a joint income of about $120,000 who pay for 30 hours of childcare each week have clawed back $2768 since September 2023.

Education Minister Jason Clare today applauded Labor’s commitment to reducing childcare fees for more than one million families.

“When we were elected 2.5 years ago, childcare costs had skyrocketed. We have now cut the cost of childcare now for more than a million Australian families,” Clare said today at Goodstart Jerrabomberra, an early learning centre in NSW.

“That’s real money that’s making a real difference for families across the country.”

Families on a combined income of up to $83,280 can get back up to 90 per cent on childcare costs under the subsidy.

Clare said the next step was paying childcare and early education workers more to keep the industry thriving.

“When we were elected 2.5 years ago, childcare workers were leaving the sector in droves,” he said.

Families on a combined income of up to $83,280 can get back up to 90 per cent back under the subsidy. (iStock)

“We’ve seen job applications at Goodstart [the biggest early childhood employer in Australia] jump by 30 per cent. Vacancy rates are down by 28 per cent.

“It shows that when you pay people more, more people want to do the job. And there aren’t many jobs that are more important than our early educators.”

The Albanese government said it will establish a $1 billion early education fund if elected in this year’s federal election.

Generic childcare scene — The average Aussie family has saved around $2700 on childcare costs in the past year, the figures show. (Getty)

The proposed fund would guarantee every child access to at least three days of early education.

“Properly valuing the early childhood education and care workforce is crucial to attracting and retaining workers and vital to achieving the quality universal early learning sector Australian families deserve,” said Minister for Early Childhood Education Anne Aly.

“We’re boosting the wages of early childhood education workers, while relieving cost of living pressures on Australian families.”